THE EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE
EDITED BY THE REV.
W. ROBERTSON NICOLL, M.A., LL.D.
Editor of "The Expositor"
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA
BY
WILLIAM GARDEN BLAIKIE, D.D., LL.D.
London
HODDER AND STOUGHTON
27, PATERNOSTER ROW
———
MDCCCXCIII
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA
BY
WILLIAM GARDEN BLAIKIE, D.D., LL.D.
NEW COLLEGE, EDINBURGH
London
HODDER AND STOUGHTON
27, PATERNOSTER ROW
———
MDCCCXCIII
With a purely historical book like Joshua before us, it is of importance to keep in view two ways of regarding Old Testament history, in accordance with one or other of which any exposition of such a book must be framed.
According to one of these views, the historical books of Scripture, being given by inspiration of God, have for their main object not to tell the story or dwell on the fortunes of the Hebrew nation, but to unfold God's progressive revelation of Himself made to the seed of Abraham, and to record the way in which that revelation was received, and the effects which it produced. The story of the Hebrew nation is but the frame in which this Divine revelation is set. It was God's pleasure to reveal Himself not through a formal treatise, but in connection with the history of a nation, through announcements and institutions and practical dealings bearing in the first instance on them. The historical books of the Hebrews therefore, while they give us an excellent view of the progress of the nation, must be studied in connection with God's main purpose, and the supernatural interpositions by which from time to time it was carried out.
The other view regards the historical books of the
Hebrews in much the same light as we look on those of
In this spirit we have recently had several treatises
dealing with that history from a purely natural standpoint.
Very earnest endeavours have been made to
clear the atmosphere, to expiscate facts, to apply the
laws of history, to weigh statements in the balances of
probability, to reduce the Hebrew history to the principles
of science. The general effect of this method
has been to bring out results very different from those
previously accepted. In particular, there has been a
thorough elimination of the supernatural from Hebrew
history. Natural causes have been judged sufficient
to explain all that occurred. The introduction of the
supernatural in the narrative was due to those obvious
causes that have operated in the case of other nations
The difference between the two methods, as an able writer remarks, is substantially this, that "the one regards the Hebrew books as an unfolding of God's nature, and the other as an unfolding of the nature of man."
The naturalistic method claims emphatically to be
scientific. It reduces all events to historical law, and
finds for them a natural explanation. But what if the
natural explanation is no explanation? What becomes
of the claim to be scientific if the causes assigned are
not sufficient to account for the phenomena? If
science will not tolerate unnatural causes, no more
should it tolerate unnatural effects. A truly scientific
method must show a fit proportion between cause and
effect. Our contention is that, in this respect, the
naturalistic method is a failure. In many instances its
We are reminded of an incident which a popular writer, under the nom de plume introduced in a novel, bearing the title "We Two." Erica, the daughter of an atheist, assists her father in conducting a journal. She gets from him for review a Life of David Livingstone, with instructions to leave his religion entirely out. As she proceeds with the work, she becomes convinced that the condition is impossible. To describe Livingstone without his religion would be like playing Hamlet without the part of Hamlet. Not only does she find her task impossible, but when she comes to an incident where Livingstone, in most imminent danger of his life, gets entire composure of mind from an act of devotion, she becomes convinced that this could not have happened had there not been an objective reality corresponding to his belief; and she is an atheist no more. Erica now believes in God. Se non e vero e bene trovato.
In like manner, we believe that to delineate Old
Testament history without reference to the supernatural
is as impossible as to describe Livingstone apart from
his religion. You are baffled in trying to explain
actual events. Long ago, Edward Gibbon tried to
account for the rapid progress and brilliant success of
Christianity in the early centuries by what he called
secondary causes. It was really an attempt to eliminate
the supernatural from early Christian history. But the
five causes which he specified were really not causes,
but effects,—effects of that supernatural action which
had its source in the supernatural person of Jesus
Let us try to make good this position. Let us select a few of the more remarkable occurrences of early Hebrew history, and, in the language of Gibbon, make "a candid and reasonable inquiry" whether or not they can be accounted for, on the ordinary principles of human nature, without a supernatural cause.
1. It is certain that from the earliest times, and
during at least the first four centuries of their history,
the Hebrew people had an immovable conviction that
the land of Canaan was divinely destined to be theirs.
Of the singular hold which this conviction took of the
minds of the patriarchs, we have innumerable proofs.
Abraham leaves the rich plains of Chaldæa to dwell
in Canaan, and spends a hundred years in it, a
stranger and a pilgrim, without having a single acre
of his own. When he sends to Padan Aram for a
wife to Isaac he conjures his servant on no account to
listen to any proposal that Isaac should settle there;
the damsel must at all hazards come to Canaan.
It is vain to account for this extraordinary faith in
the land as theirs, and this remarkable assurance that
it would be the scene of unwonted blessing, apart from
a supernatural communication from God. To suppose
that it originated in some whim or fancy of Abraham's
or in the saga of some old bard like Thomas the Rhymer,
2. No more can the leaving of Egypt, with all that followed, be accounted for without supernatural agency. It is the contention of the naturalistic historian that the Israelites were very much fewer in number than the Scripture narrative alleges. But if so, how could an empire, with such immense resources as the monuments show Egypt to have had, have been unable to retain them? Wellhausen affirms that at the time Egypt was weakened by a pestilence. We know not his authority for the statement; but if the Egyptians were weakened, the Israelites (unless supernaturally protected) must have been weakened too. Make what we may of the contest between Moses and Pharaoh, it is beyond dispute that Pharaoh's pride was thoroughly roused, and that his firm determination was not to let the children of Israel go. And if we grant that his six hundred chariots were lost by some mishap in the Red Sea, what were these to the immense forces at his disposal, and what was there to hinder him from mustering a new force, and attacking the fugitives in the wilderness of Sinai? Pharaoh himself does not seem to have entered the sea with his soldiers, and was therefore free to take other steps. How, then, are we to account for the sudden abandonment of the campaign?
3. And as to the residence in the wilderness, even if we suppose that the Israelites were much fewer in number than is stated, they were far too great a multitude to be supported from the scanty resources of the desert. The wilderness already had its inhabitants, as Moses knew right well from his experience as a shepherd; it had its Midianites and Amalekites and other pastoral tribes, by whom the best of its pastures were eagerly appropriated for the maintenance of their flocks. How, in addition to these, were the hosts of Israel to obtain support?
4. And how are we to explain the extraordinary route which they took? Why did they not advance towards Canaan by the ordinary way—the wilderness of Shur, Beersheba, and Hebron? Why cross the Red Sea at all, or have anything to do with Mount Sinai and its awful cliffs, which a glance at the map will show was entirely out of their way? And when they did take that route, what would have been easier than for Pharaoh, if he had chosen to follow them with a new force, to hem them in among these tremendous mountains, and massacre or starve them at his pleasure? If the Israelites had no supernatural power to fall back on, their whole course was simply madness. We may talk of good fortune extricating men from difficulties, but what fortune that can be conceived could have availed a people, professing to be bound for the land of Canaan, that, without food or drink or stores of any kind, had wandered into the heart of a vast labyrinth, for no reasonable purpose under the sun?
5. Nor can the career of Moses be made intelligible
without a supernatural backing. The contention is,
that the desire of the people in Egypt for deliverance
having become very strong, especially in the tribe of
6. Nor could the law of Moses, first given in such
circumstances, have acquired the glory which surrounded
it ever after, had there been no manifestation
of the Divine presence at Sinai. The people were
greatly dissatisfied, especially at their delays. The
only course that would have quieted them was to push
on towards Canaan, so that their minds might be animated
by the enthusiasm of hope. Under their detentions
7. Then, as to the generalship of Moses. How are
we to explain the further detention of the people in the
wilderness for nearly forty years? If this was not the
result of a supernatural Divine decree, it must have
proceeded from the inability of Moses to lead the
people to victory. No people who had struggled out
of bondage in order to enter a land flowing with milk
and honey, would of their own accord have spent forty
8. At last Moses suddenly awakes to activity and
courage. And the next difficulty is to account for his
success at the eleventh hour of his life, if he had no
supernatural help. No phrase occurs more frequently
in naturalistic explanations than "it is likely." Likelihood
is the touchstone to which all extraordinary statements
are brought, although, as Lord Beaconsfield used
to tell us, "it is the unexpected that happens." Borrowing
the touchstone for the nonce, we may ask, Is it likely
that, after a sleep of eight-and-thirty years, Moses of
his own accord, without any apparent change of circumstances,
sprang suddenly to his feet, and urged the
people to attempt the invasion of the land? Is it likely
that all the inertia and fears of the people vanished in
And now we come to Joshua, and to the book that records his achievements.
Joshua was no prophet; he made no claim to the
prophetic character; he succeeded Moses only as
military leader. Consequently the Book of Joshua
contains little matter that would fall under the term
"revelation." But both the work of Joshua and the
book of Joshua served an important purpose in the
plan of Divine manifestation, inasmuch as they showed
If, then, Joshua's work was a continuation of the
work of Moses, and his book of the books of Moses,
both must be regarded from the same point of view.
You cannot explain either of them reasonably in a merely
rationalistic sense. Joshua could no more have settled
the people in Canaan by merely natural means than
Moses could have delivered them from Pharaoh and
maintained them for years in the wilderness. In the
history of both you see a Divine arm, and in the books
of both you find a chapter of Divine revelation. It is
this that gives full credibility to the miracles which they
record. What happened under Joshua formed a most
important chapter of the process of revelation by which
God made Himself known to Israel. In such circumstances,
miracles were not out of place. But if the
Book of Joshua is nothing more than the record of a
Rationalists may count us wrong in believing that the Hebrew historical books are more than Hebrew annals—are the records of a Divine manifestation. But they cannot hold us unreasonable or inconsistent if, believing this, we believe in the miracles which the books record. Miracles assume a very different character when they are connected into a sublime purpose in the economy of God; when they signalize a great epoch in the history of revelation—the completion of a great era of promise, the fulfilment of hopes delayed for centuries. The Book of Joshua has thus a far more dignified place in the history of revelation than a superficial observer would suppose. And those historians who bring it down to the level of a mere record of an invasion, and who leave out of account its bearing on Divine transactions so far back as the days of Abraham, spoil it of its chief glory and value for the Church in every age. There is nothing of more importance, whether for the individual believer or for the Church collectively, than a firm conviction, such as the Book of Joshua emphatically supplies, that long delays on God's part involve no forgetfulness of His promises, but that whenever the destined moment comes "no good thing will fail of all that He hath spoken."
The Book of Joshua consists mainly of two parts;
one historical, the other geographical. It was the old
belief that it was the work of a single writer, with such
slight revision at an after time as a writing might
receive without essential interference with its substance.
The author was sometimes supposed to be Joshua
himself, but more commonly one of the priests or elders
But recent critics have taken a different view. Ewald
maintained that, besides the Jehovist and Elohist writers
of whose separate contributions in Genesis the evidence
seems incontrovertible, there were three other authors
of Joshua, with one or more redactors or revisers.
The view of Kuenen and Wellhausen is similar, but
with this difference, that the Book of Joshua shows so
much affinity, both in object and style, to the preceding
five books, that it must be classed with them, as setting
forth the origin of the Jewish nation, which would not
have been complete without a narrative of their settlement
in their land. The composition of Joshua is
therefore to be brought down to a late date; we owe it
to the documents, writers, and editors concerned in the
composition of the Pentateuch; and instead of following
the Jews in classing the first five books by themselves,
we ought to include Joshua along with them, and
in place of the Pentateuch speak of the Hexateuch.
Canon Driver substantially accepts this view; in his
judgment, the first part of the book rests mainly on the
JE (Jehovist-Elohist) document, with slight additions
from P (the priestly code) and D2 (the second
Deuteronomist). The second half of the book is derived
mainly from the priestly code. But Canon Driver has
the candour to say that much more difficult to
distinguish the writers in Joshua than in the earlier
One is tempted to say of this complicated but confidently maintained scheme, that it is just too complete, too wonderfully finished, too clever by half. Allowing most cordially the remarkable ability and ingenuity of its authors, we can hardly be expected to concede to them the power of taking to pieces a book of such vast antiquity, putting it in a modern mincing machine, dividing it among so many supposed writers, and settling the exact parts of it written by each! Is there any ancient writing that might not yield a similar result if the same ingenuity were exercised upon it?
To judge of the source of writings by apparent
varieties of style, and call in a different writer for every
such variety, is to commit oneself to a very precarious
rule. There are doubtless cases where the diversity
of style is so marked that the inference is justified,
but in these the evidence is unmistakably clear. Often
the evidence against identity of authorship appears
very clear, while it is absolutely worthless. Suppose
that three thousand years hence an English book
should be found, consisting, first, of an eloquent exposition
of a parliamentary budget; secondly, a scheme
for Home Rule in Ireland; thirdly, a dissertation on
If we compare the criticism of the Book of Joshua
with that (let us say) of Genesis, the difference in the
But we are far from thinking that there is no foundation for any of the conclusions of the critics regarding the Book of Joshua. What seems their great weakness is the confidence with which they assign this part to one writer and that part to another, and bring down the composition of the book to a late period of the history. That various earlier documents were made use of by the author of the book seems very plain. For instance, in the account of the crossing of the Jordan, use seems to have been made of two documents, not always agreeing in minute details, and pieced together in a primitive fashion characteristic of a very early period of literary composition. The record of the delimitation of the possessions of the several tribes must have been taken from the report of the men that were sent to survey the country, but it is not a complete record. There are other traces of different documents in other parts of the book, but any diversities between them are quite insignificant, and in no degree impair its historical trustworthiness.
As to the hand of a reviser or revisers in the book,
we see no difficulty in allowing for such. We can
conceive an authorized reviser expanding speeches, but
thoroughly in the line of the speakers, or inserting
explanatory remarks as to places, or as to practices
that had prevailed "unto this day." But it is atrocious
to be told of revisers colouring statements and modifying
facts in the interests of religious parties, or even
in the interest of truth itself. Any alterations in the
way of revision seem to have been very limited, otherwise
we should not find in the existing text those
awkward joinings of different documents which are
not in perfect accord. Whoever the revisers were,
they seem to have judged it best to leave these things
It has generally been assumed by spiritual expositors
that there must be something profoundly symbolical
in a book that narrates the work of Joshua, or Jesus,
the first, so far as we know, to bear the name that is
"above every name." The subject is considered with
some fulness in Pearson's "Exposition of the Creed,"
and various points of resemblance, not all equally valid, "The hand of Moses and Aaron brought the people out of
Egypt, but left them in the wilderness, and could not seat them in
Canaan.... Joshua, the successor, only could effect that in which
Moses failed.... The death of Moses and the succession of Joshua
pre-signified the continuance of the law till Jesus came.... Moses
must die that Joshua might succeed.... If we look on Joshua as
the judge and ruler of Israel, there is scarce an action which is not
predictive of our Saviour. He begins his office at the banks of the
Jordan where Christ is baptized, and enters upon the public exercise
of his prophetical office. He chooseth there twelve men out of the
people to carry twelve stones over with them; as our Jesus thence
began to choose His twelve apostles.... It hath been observed that
the saving Rahab the harlot alive foretold what Jesus once should
speak to the Jews—'Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and
the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.'..."
The one point of resemblance on which we seem
to be warranted to lay much stress is, that Joshua
gave the people REST. Again and again we read—"The
land rested from war" (xi. 23), "The land
had rest from war" (xiv. 15), "The Lord gave them
rest round about" (xxi. 44), "The Lord your God
hath given rest unto your brethren" (xxii. 4), "The
Lord had given rest unto Israel from all their enemies
round about" (xxiii. 1). That was Joshua's great
achievement, as the instrument of God's purpose. Yet
The spiritual lesson of this book then is, that in Jesus Christ there is rest for the pilgrim. It is no slight or unevangelical lesson. It is the echo of His own glorious words, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Whosoever is weary—whether under the burden of care, or the sense of guilt, or the bitterness of disappointment, or the anguish of a broken heart, or the conviction that all is vanity—the message of this book to him is,—"There remaineth a rest to the people of God." Even now, the rest of faith; and hereafter, that rest of which the voice from heaven proclaimed—"Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them."
Four hundred years is a long way to go back in
tracing a pedigree. Joshua's might have been
traced much farther back than that—back to Noah, or
for that matter to Adam; but Israelites usually counted
it enough to begin with that son of Jacob who was the
head of their tribe. It could be no small gratification
to Joshua that he had Joseph for his ancestor, and that
of the two sons of Joseph he was sprung from the one
whom the dying Jacob so expressly placed before the
other as the heir of the richer blessing (
Joshua appears to have come of the principal family
of the tribe, for his grandfather, Elishama (
This sense of Israel's relation to God raised in him
an enthusiastic patriotism, and soon brought him under
In no other way can we account for the extraordinary mark of confidence with which Joshua was honoured when he was selected in the early days of the wilderness sojourn, not only to repel the attack which the Amalekites had made upon Israel, but to choose the men by whom this was to be done. Why pass over father and grandfather, if this youth, Joshua, had not already displayed qualities that fitted him for this difficult task better than either of them? We cannot but note, in passing, the proof we have of the contemporaneousness of the history, that no mention is made of the reasons why Joshua of all men was appointed to this command. If the history was written near the time, with Joshua's splendid career fresh in the minds of the people, the reasons would be notorious and did not need to be given; if it was written long afterwards, what more natural than that something should be said to explain the remarkable choice?
On whatever grounds Joshua was appointed, the
result amply vindicated the selection. On Joshua's
part there is none of that hesitation in accepting his
work which was shown even by Moses himself when
he got his commission at the burning bush. He seems
to have accepted the appointment with humble faith
And he had little enough time to prepare, for a new
attack of the Amalekites was to be made next day.
We may conceive him, after prayer to his Lord, setting
out with a few chosen comrades to invite volunteers to
join his corps, rousing their enthusiasm by picturing
the dastardly attack that the Amalekites had made on
the sick and infirm (
The Amalekites are sometimes supposed to have
been descendants of an Amalek who was the grandson
of Esau (
The Amalekites could not have been ignorant of the
advantage of a good position, and they probably occupied
a post not easy to attack and carry. Evidently
the battle was a serious one. The practised and skilful
tactics of the Amalekites were more than a match for
the youthful valour of Joshua and his comrades; but
as often as the uplifted rod of Moses was seen on the
top of the neighbouring hill, new life and courage
rushed into the souls of the Israelites, and for the time
the Amalekites retreated before them. Hour after hour
the battle raged, till the arm of Moses became too
weary to hold up the rod. A stone had to be found
for him to sit on, and his comrades, Aaron and Hur,
had to hold up his hands. But even then, though the
advantage was on the side of Joshua, it was sunset
before Amalek was thoroughly defeated. The issue
of the battle was no longer doubtful—"Joshua discomfited
Amalek and his people with the edge of the
sword" (
It was a memorable victory, due in effect to the hand
of God as really as the destruction of the Egyptians
had been, but due instrumentally to the faith and
fortitude of Joshua and his troop, whose ardour could
not be quenched by the ever-resumed onslaughts of
Amalek. And when the fight was over, Joshua could
not but be the hero of the camp and the nation, as
really as David after the combat with Goliath. Congratulations
must have poured on him from every
quarter, and not only on him, but on his father and
grandfather as well. To Joshua these would come
with mingled feelings; gratification at having been
able to do such a service for his people, and gratitude
It is remarkable what a hold that incident at Rephidim has taken on the Christian imagination. Age after age, for more than three thousand years, its influence has been felt. Nor can it ever cease to impress believing men that, so long as Moses holds out his rod, so long as active trust is placed in the power and presence of the Most High in the great battle with sin and evil, Israel must prevail; but if this trust should fail, if Moses should let down his rod, Amalek will conquer. It was well that Moses was instructed to write the transaction in a book and rehearse it before Joshua. Well also that it should be commemorated by another memorial, an altar to the Lord with the name of "Jehovah-nissi," the Lord my banner. How often has faith looked out towards that unknown mountain where Aaron and Hur held up the weary arms of Moses, and what a new thrill of courage and hope has the spectacle sent through hearts often "faint yet pursuing"! Happily on Joshua the effect was wholesome; a less spiritual man would have been puffed up by his remarkable victory; but in him its only effect, as was shown by the whole tenor of his future life, was a firmer trust in God, and a deeper determination to wait only on Him.
It was no wonder that after this Joshua was selected
by Moses to be his personal comrade and attendant in
connection with that most solemn of all his duties—the
More than three thousand years have sped away,
but have the servants of God on an average reached the
measure of Joshua's patience? Prayers unanswered,
promises unfulfilled, sickness protracted during weary
years of pain, disappointments and trials coming in
troops as if all God's waves and billows were passing
over them, active persecution bringing all the devices
of torture to bear upon them,—how have such things
tried the patience, the waiting power of the servants
of God! But let them remember that if the trial be
severe the recompense is great, and that in the end
nothing will grieve them more than to have distrusted
their master and thought it possible that His promises
would fail. "God is not unrighteous to forget."
Richard Cecil tells that once, when walking with his
little son, he bade him wait for him at a certain
gate till he should return. He thought he would be
back in a few minutes, but meanwhile an unexpected
occurrence constrained him to go into the city, where,
At last Joshua rejoins his master, and they proceed towards the foot of the mount. As they approach the camp, a noise is heard from afar. His military instinct finds an explanation,—"There is a noise of war in the camp." No, says the more experienced Moses; it is neither the shout of victors nor of vanquished, it is the noise of singing I hear; and so it was. For when they reached the camp, the people were at the very height of the idolatrous revelling that followed the construction and worship of the golden calf, and the sounds that fell on the ears of Moses and Joshua were the bacchanalian shouts of unholy and shameful riot. What a contrast to the solemn and holy scene on the top! What a gulf lies between the holy will of God and the polluted passions of men!
During the painful scenes that ensued, Joshua continued
in faithful attendance on Moses; and when
Moses removed the tabernacle (the temporary structure
hitherto used for sacred services) and placed it outside
the camp, Joshua was with him, and departed not out
of the tabernacle (
The next time that Joshua comes into notice is not so flattering to himself. It is on that occasion when the Spirit descended on the seventy elders that had been appointed to assist Moses, and they prophesied round about the tabernacle. Two of the seventy were not with the rest, but nevertheless they got the spirit and were prophesying in the camp. The military instinct of Joshua was hurt at the irregularity, and his concern for the honour of Moses was roused by their apparent indifference to the presence of their head. He hurried to inform Moses, not doubting but he would interfere to correct the irregularity. But the narrow spirit of youth met with a memorable rebuke from the larger and more noble spirit of the leader,—"Enviest thou for my sake? Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!"
Not long after this Joshua was appointed to another
memorable service. After the law-giving had been
brought to an end, and the host of Israel had removed
from the mountain to the borders of the promised
land, he was appointed one of the twelve spies that
The forty days spent by the twelve men in exploring
the land were a great contrast to the forty days spent
by Joshua on the mount. All was inactivity and
patient waiting in the one case; all was activity and
Apart from its more immediate object, this early tour through Palestine must have been one of surpassing interest. To witness each spot that had been made memorable and classical by the lives of his forefathers; to sit by the well of Beersheba, and recall all that had happened there; to repose under Abraham's oak at Mamre; to bow at the cave of Machpelah; to recall the visits of angels at Bethel, and the ladder which had been seen going up to heaven,—was not only most thrilling, but to a man of Joshua's faith most inspiring; because every spot that had such associations was a witness that God had given them the land, and a proof that even though the sons of Anak were there, and their cities were walled up to heaven, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob would be faithful to His promise, and, if the people would only trust Him, would right speedily place them in full possession.
Caleb and Joshua were the only two men whose faith stood the test of this survey; the rest were thoroughly cowed by the greatness of the difficulties. And Caleb seems to have been the foremost of the two, for in some places he is named as if he stood alone. Probably he was the one who came forward and spoke; but even if Joshua's faith was not so strong at first, it was no dishonour to be indebted to the greater courage and confidence of his brother.
We can hardly doubt that in their long marches and
quiet encampments the twelve men had many a discussion
as to what they would advise, and that the ten
felt themselves beaten both in argument and in faith
When they come back, the ten open the business and
give their decided judgment against any attempt to take
possession of the land. Impatient of their misrepresentations,
Caleb perhaps strikes in, repudiates the notion
that the people are not able to take possession, and urges
them in God's name to go up at once. But it is easier
far to stir up discontent and fear than to stimulate faith.
The cry of the congregation, "Up, make us a captain,
and let us return to Egypt," shows how strongly the
tide of unbelief is flowing. Moses and Aaron are overwhelmed.
The two leaders fall on their faces before
the congregation. But neither the cry of the congregation
nor the attitude of Moses and Aaron daunts the
two faithful spies. With clothes rent they rush in,
renewing their commendations of the land, laying hold
of the Almighty Protector, and scorning the opposition
of the inhabitants, whose hearts were cowed with terror
and whose defence was departed from them. It was a
fine spectacle,—the two against the million—the little
remnant "faithful found among the faithless." But it
was all in vain. "All the congregation bade stone
them with stones." And in their impulsive and excitable
temper the horrible cry would have been obeyed
had not the glory of the Lord shone out and arrested
the infatuated people (
For this shameless sin the penalty was very heavy.
The congregation were to wander in the wilderness for
forty years till all that generation should die off; the
ten unfaithful spies were to die at once of a plague before
the Lord; and not one of the generation that left
Egypt was to enter the promised land. How easily can
Joshua and Caleb are doubly honoured; their lives are preserved when the other ten die of the plague; and they alone, of all the grown men of that generation, are to be allowed to enter and obtain homes in the land of promise.
For eight-and-thirty years we hear nothing more of
Joshua. Like Moses, he has an interesting youth,
then a long burial in the wilderness, and then he
emerges from his obscurity and does a great work,
second only to that of Moses himself. The first mention
of him after his long eclipse is immediately before
the death of Moses. God virtually appoints him to be
his successor, and directs both of them to present themselves
in the tabernacle of the congregation (
We might earnestly desire, in entering on the study
of Joshua's life, to draw aside the veil that covers the
eight-and-thirty years, and see how he was further
prepared for his great work. We might like to look
into his heart, and see after what fashion this man was
made to whom the destruction of the Canaanites was
entrusted. A religious warrior is a peculiar character;
a Gustavus Adolphus, an Oliver Cromwell, a Henry
Havelock, a General Gordon; Joshua was of the same
mould, and we should have liked to know him more
Joshua i. 2.
A feeling of this sort must have spread itself through
the host of Israel when it was known that Moses was
dead. Speculation as to his successor there could be
none, for not only had God designated Joshua, but
before he died Moses had laid his hands upon him, and
Well though Joshua did his work in after life, and bright though the lustre of his name ultimately became, he never attained to the rank of Moses. While the name of Moses is constantly reappearing in the prophets, in the psalms, in the gospels, in the epistles, and in the apocalypse, that of Joshua is not found out of the historical books except in the speech of Stephen and that well-known passage in the Hebrews (iv. 8), where the received version perplexes us by translating it Jesus. But it was no disparagement of him that he was so far surpassed by the man to whom, under God, the very existence of the nation was due. And in some respects, Joshua is a more useful example to us than Moses. Moses seems to stand half-way in heaven, almost beyond reach of imitation. Joshua is more on our own level. If not a man of surpassing genius, he commends himself as having made the best possible use of his talents, and done his part carefully and well.
The remark has been made that eras of great creative vigour are often succeeded by periods dull and commonplace. The history of letters and of the fine arts shows that bursts of artistic splendour like the Renaissance, or of literary originality like the Augustan age in Roman or the Elizabethan in English literature, are not followed by periods of equal lustre. And the same phenomenon has often been found in the Christian Church. In more senses than one the Apostles had no successors. Who in all the sub-apostolic age was worthy even to untie the latchet of Peter, or John, or Paul? This inferiority is so manifest that had there been nothing else to guide the Church in framing the canon of the New Testament, the difference between the writings of the Apostles and their companions on the one hand, and of men like Barnabas, Clement of Rome, Polycarp, Ignatius, and Hermes on the other, would have sufficed to settle the question. So also at the era of the Reformation. Hardly a country but had its star or its galaxy of the first magnitude. Luther and Melancthon, Calvin and Coligny, Farel and Viret, John à-Lasco and John Knox, Latimer and Cranmer,—what incomparable men they were! But in the age that followed what names can we find to couple with theirs?
Of other sections of the Church the same remark has
been made, and sometimes it has been turned to an
unfair use. If in the second generation, after a great
outburst of power and grace, there are few or no men
of equal calibre, it does not follow that the glory has
departed, and that the Church is to droop her head,
and wonder to what unworthy course on her part the
degeneracy is to be ascribed. We are not to expect
in such a case that the laws of nature will be set aside
to gratify our pride. We are to recognise a state of
The question for Joshua is not whether he is a fit person to succeed Moses. His mental exercise is not to compare himself with Moses, and note the innumerable points of inferiority on every side. His attitude is not to bow down his head like a bulrush, mourning over the departed glory of Israel, grieving for the mighty dead, on whose like neither he nor his people will ever look again. If there ever was a time when it might seem excusable for a bereaved nation and a bereaved servant to abandon themselves to a sense of helplessness, it was on the death of Moses. But even at that supreme moment the command to Joshua is, "Now therefore arise." Gird yourself for the new duties and responsibilities that have come upon you. Do not worry yourself with asking whether you are capable of doing these duties, or with vainly looking within yourself for the gifts and qualities which marked your predecessor. It is enough for you that God in His providence calls you to take the place of the departed. If He has called you, He will equip you. It is not His way to send men a warfare on their own charges. The work to which He calls you is not yours but His. Remember He is far more interested in its success than you can be. Think not of yourself, but of Him, and go forth under the motto, "We will rejoice in Thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners."
In many different situations of life we may hear the same exhortation that was now addressed to Joshua. A wise, considerate, and honoured father is removed, and the eldest son, a mere stripling, is called to take his place, perhaps in the mercantile office or place of business, certainly in the domestic circle. He is called to be the comforter and adviser of his widowed mother, and the example and helper of his brothers and sisters. Well for him when he hears a voice from heaven, "Your father is dead; now therefore arise!" Rouse yourself for the duties that now devolve upon you; onerous they may be and beyond your strength, but not on that account to be evaded or repudiated; rather to be looked on as spurs provided and designed by God, that you may apply yourself with heart and soul to your duties, in the belief that faithful and patient application shall not be without its reward!
Or it may be that the summons comes to some young minister as successor to a father in Israel, whose ripe gifts and fragrant character have won the confidence and the admiration of all. Or to some teacher in a Sunday-school, where the man of weight, of wise counsel, and holy influence has been suddenly snatched away. But be the occasion what it may, the removal of any man of ripe character and gifts always comes to the survivor with the Divine summons, "Now therefore arise!" That is the one way in which you must try to improve this dispensation; the world is poorer for the loss of his gifts—learn you to make the most of yours!
It was no mean impression of Moses that God meant
to convey by the designation, "Moses My servant."
It was not a high-sounding title, certainly. A great
contrast to the long list of honourable titles sometimes
But think what is really implied in this designation, "My servant." Even if Moses had not been God's servant in a sense and in a degree in which few other men ever were, it would have been a glorious thing to obtain that simple appellation. True indeed, the term "servant of God" is such a hackneyed one, and often so little represents what it really means, that we need to pause and think of its full import. There may be much honour in being a servant. Even in our families and factories a model servant is a rare and precious treasure. For a real servant is one that has the interest of his master as thoroughly at heart as his own, and never scruples, at any sacrifice of personal interest or feeling, to do all that he can for his master's welfare. A true servant is one of whom his master may say, "There is absolutely no need for me to remind him what my interest requires; he is always thinking of my interest, always on the alert to attend to it, and there is not a single thing I possess that is not safe in his hands."
Does God possess many such servants? Who among
us can suppose God saying this of him? Yet this was
the character of Moses, and in God's eyes it invested
him with singular honour. It was his distinction that
he was "faithful in all his house." His own will was
It was thus no unsuggestive word that God used of Moses, when He told Joshua that "His servant" was dead. It was a significant indication of what God had valued in Moses and now expected of Joshua. The one thing for Joshua to remember about Moses is, that he was the servant of God. Let him take pains to be the same; let him have his ear as open as that of Moses to every intimation of God's will, his will as prompt to respond, and his hand as quick to obey.
Was not this view of the glory of Moses as God's
servant a foreshadow of what was afterwards taught
more fully and on a wider scale by our Lord? "The
Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to
minister, and to give His life a ransom for many."
Jesus sought to reverse the natural notions of men as
to what constitutes greatness, when He taught that,
instead of being measured by the number of servants
who wait on us, it is measured rather by the number
of persons to whom we become servants. And if it
was a mark of Christ's own humiliation that "He took
on Him the form of a servant," did not this redound
to His highest glory? Was it not for this that God
highly exalted Him and gave Him a name that is above
And now Joshua must succeed Moses and be God's servant as he was. He must aim at this as the one distinction of his life; he must seek in every action to know what God would have him to do. Happy man if he can carry out this ideal of life! No conflicting interests or passions will distract his soul. His eye being single, his whole body will be full of light. The power that nerves his arm will not be more remarkable than the peace that dwells in his soul. He will show to all future generations the power of a "lost will,"—not the suppression of all desire, according to the Buddhist's idea of bliss, but all lawful natural desires in happy and harmonious action, because subject to the wise, holy, and loving guidance of the will of God.
Thus we see among the other paradoxes of His government, how God uses death to promote life. The death of the eminent, the aged, the men of brilliant gifts makes way for others, and stimulates their activity and growth. When the champion of the forest falls the younger trees around it are brought more into contact with the sunshine and fresh air, and push up into taller and more fully developed forms. If none of the younger growth attains the size of the champion, a great many may be advanced to a higher average of size and beauty. If in the second generation of any great religious movement few or none can match the "mighties" of the previous age, there may be a general elevation, a rise of level, an increase of efficiency among the rank and file.
In many ways death enters into God's plans. Not "Can death itself when seen in the light of this truth [the adjustment
of every being in animated nature to every other] be denied to
be an evidence of benevolence? I think not. The law of animal
generation makes necessary the law of animal death, if the largest
amount of animal happiness is to be secured. If there had been less
death there must also have been less life, and what life there was
must have been poorer and meaner. Death is a condition of the
prolificness of nature, the multiplicity of species, the succession of
generations, the co-existence of the young and the old; and these
things, it cannot reasonably be doubted, add immensely to the sum
of animal happiness."—Flint's "Theism," p. 251.
What a memorable event in the spiritual history of families is the first sudden affliction, the first breach in the circle of loving hearts! First, the new experience of intense tender longing, baffled by the inexorable conditions of death; then the vivid vision of eternity, the reality of the unseen flashing on them with living and awful power, and giving an immeasurable importance to the question of salvation; then the drawing closer to one another, the forswearing of all animosities and jealousies, the cordial desire for unbroken peace and constant co-operation; and if it be the father or the mother that has been taken, the ambition to be useful,—to be a help not a burden to the surviving parent, and to do what little they can of what used to be their father's or their mother's work. Death becomes actually a quickener of the vital energies; instead of a withering influence, it drops like the gentle dew, and becomes the minister of life.
And death is not alone among the destructive agencies
that are so often directed to life-giving ends. What a
remarkable place is that which is occupied by Pain
And this brings us to our last application. Our Lord
Himself, by a beautiful analogy in nature, showed the
connection, in the very highest sense, between death
and life—"Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth
and die, it abideth alone; but if it die it beareth much
fruit." "Without shedding of blood there is no remission
of sin." When Jesus died at Calvary, the headquarters
of death became the nursery of life. The
place of a skull, like the prophet's valley of dry bones,
gave birth to an exceeding great army of living men.
Among the wonders that will bring glory to God in the
highest throughout eternity, the greatest will be this
evolution of good from evil, of happiness from pain, of
life from death. And even when the end comes, and
death is swallowed up of victory, and death and hell
Joshua i. 2-5.
It was a very solemn and striking moment, second
only in interest to that when, forty years before, their
fathers had stood at the edge of the sea, with the host
of Pharaoh hurrying on behind. At length the hour
has come to take possession of the inheritance! At
length the promise made so many hundred years ago to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is ripe for fulfilment! You,
children of Israel, have seen that God is in no haste to
fulfil His promises, and your hearts may have known
much of the sickness of hope deferred. But now you are
to see that after all God is faithful. He never forgets.
He makes no mistakes. His delays are all designed for
There were two things that might make Joshua and
the people hesitate to cross the Jordan. In the first
place, the river was in flood; it was the time when the
Jordan overflowed its banks (
On the one hand, therefore, compliance was physically
impossible, and on the other, even if possible, it would
have been fearfully perilous. But it is never God's
method to give impossible commands. The very fact
of His commanding anything is a proof of His readiness
to make it possible, nay, to make it easy and simple to
those who have faith to attempt it. "Stretch out thy
hand," said Christ to the man with the withered hand.
his only to trust and obey.
This faith in Divine power qualifying feeble mortals
for the hardest tasks has originated some of the noblest
enterprises in the history of the world. It was a Divine
voice Columbus seemed to hear bidding him cross the
wild Atlantic, for he desired to bring the natives of the
distant shores beyond it into the pale of the Church;
and it was his faith that sustained him when his crew
became mutinous and his life was not safe for an hour.
It was a Divine voice Livingstone seemed to hear
Often in the spiritual warfare it is useful to apply this principle. Are we called to believe? Are we called to make ourselves a new heart and a new spirit? Are we summoned to fight, to wrestle, to overcome? Certainly we are. But is not this to tantalize us by ordering us to do what we cannot do? Is not this like telling a sick man to get well, or a decrepit old creature to skip and frisk like a child? It would be so if the principle of partnership between God and us did not come into play. Faith says, God is my partner in this matter. Partners even in an ordinary business put their resources together, each doing what his special abilities fit him for. In the partnership which faith establishes between God and you, the resources of the infinite Partner become available for the needs of the finite. It is God's part to give orders, it is your part to execute them, and it is God's part to strengthen you so to do. It is this that makes the command reasonable, "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." Faith rejoices in the partnership, and goes forward in the confidence that the strength of the Almighty will help its weakness, not by one sudden leap, but by that steady growth in grace that makes the path of the just like the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
It was a great thing for God to announce that He was now in the act of turning His old, old promise into reality,—that the land pledged to Abraham centuries ago was now at length to become the possession of his descendants. But the gift could be of no avail unless it was actually appropriated. God gave the people the right to the land; but their own energy, made effectual through His grace, could alone secure the possession. In a remarkable way they were made to feel that, while the land was God's gift, the appropriation and enjoyment of the gift must come through their own exertions. Just as in a higher sphere we know that our salvation is wholly the gift of God; and yet the getting hold of this gift, the getting linked to Christ, the entrance as it were into the marriage covenant with Him involves the active exertion of our own will and energy, and the gift never can be ours if we fail thus to appropriate it.
As soon as God mentions the land, He expatiates
on its amplitude and its boundaries. It was designed
to be both a comfortable and an ample possession. In
point of extent it was a spacious region,—"from the
wilderness and this Lebanon, even unto the great river,
the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and
unto the great sea, towards the going down of the
sun." And it was not merely bits or corners of this
land that were to be theirs, they were not designed to
share it with other occupants, but "every place that
the sole of your foot shall tread upon, to you have I
given it, as I spake unto Moses." It was in no meagre
or stingy spirit that God was now to fulfil His ancient
promise, but in a way corresponding to the essential
bountifulness of His nature. For it is a delightful
truth that God's heart is large and liberal, and that
And when we turn to God's provision in grace we find glorious proofs of the same abundance and generosity. We see this symbolized by the activity and generosity of our Lord, as He went about "preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people." We understand the spiritual reality of which this was the symbol, when we call to mind the Divine generosity that receives the vilest sinners; the efficacy of the blood that cleanses from all sin; the power of the Spirit that sanctifies soul, body, and spirit; the wisdom of the providence that makes all things work together for good; the glory of the love that makes us now "sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when He shall appear we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." And once more it appears in the glory and amplitude of the inheritance, of which the land of Canaan was but the type, prepared of God's infinite bounty for all who are His children by faith. Our Father's house is both large and well furnished; it is a house of many mansions; and the inheritance which He has promised is incorruptible and undefiled and fadeth not away.
It is a grand truth, of which we never can make too much, this bountifulness of God, and the delight which He has in being bountiful. It is emphatically a truth for faith to apprehend and enjoy, because appearances are so often against it. Appearances were fearfully against it while the Israelites were groaning in their Egyptian bondage, and hardly less so, despite the manna and the water from the rock, during the forty years' wandering in the desert. But that was a period of correction and of training, and in such circumstances lavish bounty was out of the question.
The most bountiful man on earth could not pour out all the liberality of his heart on the inmates of a hospital for the sick; he may give all that sick men need, but he must wait till they are well before he can give full scope to his generosity. While we are in the body we are like patients in a hospital, and the kindest feelings from God toward us must often take the form of bitter medicines, painful operations, close restraint, stinted diet, and it may be silence and darkness. But wait till we are well, and then we shall see what God hath prepared for him that waiteth for Him! Wait till we go over Jordan and take possession of the land! Two things will be seen in the clearest light—the supreme bountifulness of God, and the sinfulness of that impatient and suspicious spirit to which we are so prone. What a humiliation, if humiliation be possible in heaven, to discover that all the time when we were fretting and grumbling, God was working out His plans of supreme beneficence and love, waiting only till we should come of age to make us heirs of the universe!
It is natural to ask why, if the boundaries of the
promised land were so extensive, if they reached so far
One geographical expression, in the delimitation of the country, demands a brief explanation. While the country is defined as embracing the whole territory from Lebanon to the Euphrates, it is also defined as consisting in that direction of "all the land of the Hittites." But were not the Hittites one of the seven nations whose land was promised to Abraham and the fathers, and not even the first in the enumeration of these? Why should this great north-eastern section of the promised domain be designated "the land of the Hittites"?
The time was when it was a charge against the
accuracy of the Scripture record that it ascribed to the
Hittites this extensive dominion. That time has passed
away, inasmuch as, within quite recent years, the
discovery has been made that in those distant times
a great Hittite empire did exist in the very region
specified, between Lebanon and the Euphrates. The
discovery is based on twofold data: references in the
Egyptian and other monuments to a powerful people,
called the Khita (Hittites), with whom even the great
kings of Egypt had long and bloody wars; and inscriptions
in the Hittite language, found in Hamah, See "The Empire of the Hittites." By William Wright, D.D.,
F.R.G.S. London, 1886.
To encourage and animate Joshua to undertake
the work and position of Moses it is very graciously
promised—"There shall not any man be able to stand
before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with
Moses, so will I be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor
forsake thee." The invariable success promised was
a greater boon than the greatest conquerors had been
able to secure. Uniform success is a thing hardly
known to captains of great expeditions, even though
in the end they may prevail. But the promise to
Joshua is, that all his enemies shall flee before him.
None of his battles shall be even neutral, his opponents
must always give way. The promise is not inconsistent with the fact that Joshua's troops
were defeated by the men of Ai. In such promises there is an
implied condition of steadfast regard to God's will on the part of those
who receive them, and this condition was violated at Ai, not by
Joshua, indeed, but by one of his people.
And this was no vague, indefinite assurance. It was sharply defined by a well-known example in the immediate past—"As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee." In what a remarkable variety of dangers and trials God was with Moses! Now he had to confront the grandest monarch on earth, supported by the strongest armies, and upheld by what claimed to be the mightiest gods. Again he had to deal with an apostate people, mad upon idols, and afterwards with an excited mob, ready to stone him. Anon he had to overcome the forces of nature and bend them to his purposes; to call water from the rock, to sweeten the bitter fountain, to heal the fiery bite, to cure his sister's leprous body, to bring down bread from heaven, and people the air with flocks of birds. Moreover, he had to be the messenger of the covenant between God and Israel, to unfold God's law in its length and breadth and in all its variety of application, and to obtain from the people a hearty compliance—"All that the Lord hath said unto us, that will we do." What a marvellous work Moses did! What a testimony his life presented to the reality of the Divine presence and guidance, and what a solid and indefeasible ground of trust God gave to Joshua when He said, "As I was with Moses, so will I be with thee."
And this is crowned with the further assurance, "I
will not fail thee, nor forsake thee,"—an assurance
which is extended in the Epistle to the Hebrews to all
who believe. We are so apt to view these promises as
just beautiful expressions that we need to pause and
think what they really mean. A promise of Divine
presence, Divine protection and guidance and blessing
all the days of our life, is surely a treasure of inexpressible
value. It is no slight matter to realize that
Joshua i. 6-9.
First, Joshua must be strong and very courageous.
But are strength and courage really within our own
power? Is strength not absolutely a Divine gift, and
as dependent on God in its ordinary degrees as it was
in the case of Samson in its highest degree? No doubt
in a sense it is so; and yet the amount even of our
bodily strength is not wholly beyond our own control.
As bodily strength is undoubtedly weakened by careless
living, by excess of eating and drinking, by all irregular
But in Joshua's case is was no doubt strength and
courage of soul that was mainly meant. Even that
is not wholly independent of the ordinary conditions
of the body. On the other hand, there are no doubt
memorable cases where the elasticity and power of the
spirit have been in the very inverse ratio to the strength
of the body. By cheerful views of life and duty, natural
depression has been counteracted, and the soul filled
with hope and joy. "The joy of the Lord," said
Nehemiah, "is the strength of His people." Fellowship
with God, as our reconciled God and Father in Christ,
is a source of perpetual strength. Who does not know
the strengthening and animating influence of the
presence even of a friend, when we find his fresh and
joyous temperament playing on us in some season of
depression? The radiance of his face, the cheeriness
of his voice, the elasticity of his movements seem to
infuse new hope and courage into the jaded soul.
But even men who are full of Christian courage need props and bulwarks in the hour of trial. Ezra and Nehemiah were bold, but they had ways of stimulating their courage, which they sometimes needed to fall back on, and they could find allies in unlikely quarters. Ezra could draw courage even from his shame, and Nehemiah from his very pride. "I was ashamed," said Ezra, "to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way;" therefore he determined to face the danger with no help but the unseen help of God. And when Nehemiah's life was in danger from the cunning devices of the enemy, and his friends advised him to hide himself, he repelled the advice with high-minded scorn—"Should such a man as I flee?"
But there is no source of courage like that which
flows from the consciousness of serving God, and the
consequent assurance that He will sustain and help His
servants. Brief ejaculatory prayers, constantly dropping
from their lips, often bring the courage which is needed.
"Now, therefore, O God, strengthen my hands," was
Nehemiah's habitual exclamation when faintness of
heart came over him. No doubt it was Joshua's too,
as it has always been of the best of God's servants.
Again and again, amid the murderous threats of cannibals
The other counsel to Joshua was to follow in all things the instructions of Moses, and for this end, not to let "the book of the law depart out of his mouth, but to meditate on it day and night, that he might observe to do all that was written therein."
For Joshua was called to be the executor of Moses, as it were, not to start on an independent career of his own; and that particular call he most humbly and cheerfully accepted. Instead of breaking with the past, he was delighted to build on it as his foundation, and carry it out to its predestined issues. It was no part of his work to improve on what Moses had done; he was simply to accept it and carry it out. He had his brief, he had his instructions, and these it was his one business to fulfil. No puritan ever accepted God's revelation with more profound and unquestioning reverence than Joshua accepted the law of Moses. No Oliver Cromwell or General Gordon ever recognised more absolutely his duty to carry out the plan of another, and, undisturbed himself, leave the issue in His hands. He was to be a very incarnation of Moses, and was so to meditate on his law day and night that his mind should be saturated with its contents.
This, indeed, was a necessity for Joshua, because he
required to have a clear perception of the great purpose
of God regarding Israel. Why had God taken the
unusual course of entering into covenant with a single
family out of the mass of mankind? A purpose
deliberately formed and clung to for more than four
hundred years must be a grand object in the Divine
mind. It was Joshua's part to keep the people in
This habit of meditation on the law which Joshua
was instructed to practise was of great value to one
who was to lead a busy life. No mere cursory perusal
of a book of law can secure the ends for which it is
given. The memory is treacherous, the heart is careless,
and the power of worldly objects to withdraw
attention is proverbial. We must be continually in
contact with the Book of God. The practice enjoined
on Joshua has kept its ground among a limited class
during all the intervening generations. In every age
of the Church it has been impressed on all devout and
earnest hearts that there can be no spiritual prosperity
and progress without daily meditation on the Word
of God. It would be hard to believe in the genuine
Christianity of any one who did not make a practice
morning and evening of bringing his soul into contact
with some portion of that Word. And wherever an
eminent degree of piety has been reached, we shall
find that an eminently close study of the Word has
been practised. Where the habit is perfunctory, the
tendency is to omit the meditation and to be content with
the reading. Even in pious families there is a risk that
the reading of the Scriptures morning and evening may
push the duty of meditation aside, though even then
But, on the other hand, the instances are numberless
of men attaining to great intimacy with the Divine will
and to a large conformity to it, through meditation on
the Scriptures. To many the daily portion comes fresh
as the manna gathered each morning at the door of
Israel's camp. Think of men like George Müller of
Bristol reading the Bible from beginning to end as
many as a hundred times, and finding it more fresh
and interesting at each successive perusal. Think of
Livingstone reading it right on four times when
detained at Manyuema, and Stanley three times during
his Emin expedition. What resources must be in it,
what hidden freshness, what power to feed and revive
the soul! The sad thing is that the practice is so rare.
Listen to the prophet-like rebuke of Edward Irving to
the generation of his time: "Who feels the sublime
dignity there is in a fresh saying descended from the
porch of heaven? Who feels the awful weight there is
in the least iota that hath dropped from the lips of
God? Who feels the thrilling fear or trembling hope
there is in words whereon the eternal destinies of himself
do hang? Who feels the swelling tide of gratitude
within his breast for redemption and salvation, instead
of flat despair and everlasting retribution?... This
book, the offspring of the Divine mind and the perfection
of heavenly wisdom is permitted to lie from day
to day, perhaps from week to week, unheeded and
unperused; never welcome to our happy, healthy, and
energetic moods; admitted, if admitted at all, in seasons
of weakness, feeblemindedness, and disabling sorrow....
Oh, if books had but tongues to speak their
wrongs, then might this book exclaim, Hear, O "For the Oracles of God: four Orations." Pp. 3-6.
It is no excuse for neglecting this habitual reading of the Book of God that He places us now more under the action of principles than the discipline of details. For the glory of principles is that they have a bearing on every detail of our life. "Whatsoever ye do in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks unto God and the Father by Him." What could be more comprehensive than this principle of action—a principle that extends to "whatsoever we do"? There is not a moment of our waking life, not an action great or small we ever perform where the influence of this wide precept ought not to be felt. And how can it become thus pervasive unless we make it a subject of continual meditation?
In the case of Joshua, all the strenuous exhortations
to him to be strong and of a good courage, and to
meditate on the Divine law as given by Moses by day
and by night, were designed to qualify him for his
great work—"to divide the land for an inheritance
to the people as God had sworn to their fathers."
First of all, the land had to be conquered; and there is
no difficulty in seeing how necessary it was for one
who had this task on hand to be strong and of a good
courage, and to meditate on God's law. Then the land
had to be divided, and the people settled in their new
life, and Joshua had to initiate them, as it were, in that
life; he had to bind on their consciences the conditions
on which the land was to be enjoyed, and start them
in the performance of the duties, moral, social and
religious, which the Divine constitution required. Here
lay the most difficult part of his task. To conquer
the country required but the talent of a military
commander; to divide the country was pretty much
an affair of trigonometry; but to settle them in a
higher sense, to create a moral affinity between them
and their God, to turn their hearts to the covenant of
their fathers, to wean them from their old idolatries
and establish them in such habits of obedience and
trust that the doing of God's will would become to
them a second nature,—here was the difficulty for
Joshua. They had not only to be planted physically
in groups over the country, but they had to be married
to it morally, otherwise they had no security of tenure,
but were liable to summary eviction. It was no land
of rest for idolaters; all depended on the character
they attained; loyalty to God was the one condition of
a happy settlement; let them begin to trifle with the
claims of Jehovah, punishment and suffering, to be
It was thus that Joshua had to justify his name,—to show that he was worthy to be called by the name of Jesus. The work of Jesus may be said to have been symbolized both by that of Moses and that of Joshua. Moses symbolized the Redeemer in rescuing the people from Egypt and their miserable bondage there; as "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law." Joshua symbolized Him as He renews our hearts and makes us "meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." For there are conditions moral and spiritual essential to our dwelling in the heavenly Canaan. "Lord, who shall abide in Thy tabernacle? and who shall dwell in Thy holy hill? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul to vanity, nor sworn deceitfully." The atmosphere of heaven is too pure to be breathed by the unregenerate and unsanctified. There must be an adaptation between the character of the inhabitant and the place of his habitation. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Thus we see the connection between Joshua's devotion
to the book of the law, and success in the great
work of his life—"then thou shalt make thy way
prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."
No doubt he would have the appearance of success if
he simply cleared out the inhabitants who were so
degraded by sin that God was compelled to sweep
them off, and settled His people in their room. But
that, after all, was but a small matter unless accompanied
by something more. It would not secure the
people from at last sharing the fate of the old inhabitants;
And so at all times, in dealing with human beings, we can obtain no adequate and satisfying success unless their hearts are turned to God. Your children may be great scholars, or successful merchants, or distinguished authors, or brilliant artists, or even statesmen; what does it come to if they are dead to God, and have no living fellowship with Jesus Christ? Your congregation may be large and influential, and wealthy, and liberal; what if they are worldly, proud, and contentious? We must aim at far deeper effects, effects not to be found without the Spirit of God. The more we labour in this spirit, the more shall our way be made prosperous, the better shall be our success. "For them that honour Me I will honour; but they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed."
Joshua i. 10-18.
And in the steps taken by Joshua for this purpose
we see, what we so often see, how the natural must be
exhausted before the supernatural is brought in. Thus,
in communicating with the people through the shoterim,
or officers, the first order which he gives is to "command
the people to prepare them victuals." "Victuals"
denotes the natural products of the country, and is
evidently used in opposition to "manna." In another
passage we read that "the manna ceased on the
very morning after they had eaten of the old corn
of the land" (chap. v. 12). This may have been a
considerable time before, for the conquest of Sihon and
Og would give the people possession of ample stores
of food out of the old corn of the land. The manna
was a provision for the desert only, where few or no
natural supplies of food could be found. But the very
day when natural stores become available, the manna
A little explanation is needed respecting the time
when Joshua said the Jordan must be crossed—"within
three days." If the narrative of the first two chapters
be taken in chronological order, more than three days
must have elapsed between the issuing of this order
and the crossing of the river, because it is expressly
stated that the two spies who were sent to examine
Jericho hid themselves for three days in the mountains,
and thereafter recrossed the Jordan and returned to
Yes, the people generally; but already an arrangement
had been made for the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the
half-tribe of Manasseh on the east side of the river.
How, then, were they to act in the present crisis?
That had been determined between them and Moses
when they got leave to occupy the lands of Sihon and
Og, on account of their suitableness for their abundant
flocks and herds. It had been arranged then that,
leaving their cattle and their children, a portion of the
men likewise, the rest would cross the river with their
brethren and take their share of the toils and risks
of the conquest of Western Canaan. All that Joshua
needs to do now is to remind them of this arrangement.
Happily there was no reluctance on their part to fulfil
it. There was no going back from their word, even
though they might have found a loophole of escape.
They might have said that as the conquest of Sihon
and Og had been accomplished so easily, so the conquest
of the western tribes would be equally simple.
Or they might have said that the nine tribes and a
One arrangement was made by these transjordanic
tribes that was perfectly reasonable—a portion of the
men remained to guard their families and their property.
The number that passed over was forty thousand
(
Here, then, was an edifying spectacle: those who had been first provided for did not forget those who had not yet obtained any settlement; but held themselves bound to assist their brethren until they should be as comfortably settled as themselves.
It was a grand testimony against selfishness, a grand assertion of brotherhood, a beautiful manifestation of loyalty and public spirit; and, we may add, an instructive exhibition of the working of the method by which God's providence seeks to provide for the dissemination of many blessings among the children of men. It was an act of socialism, without the drawbacks which most forms of socialism involve.
God has allowed many differences in the lots of mankind, bestowing on some ample means, for which they toiled not neither did they spin; bestowing, often on the same individuals, a higher position in life, with corresponding social influence; setting some nations in the van of the world's march, bestowing on some churches very special advantages and means of influence; and it is a great question that arises—what obligations rest on these favoured individuals and communities? Does God lay any duty on them toward the rest of mankind?
The inquiry in its full scope is too wide for our limits; let us restrict ourselves to the element in respect of which the transjordanic tribes had the advantage of the others—the element of time. What do those who have received their benefits early owe to those who are behind them in time?
The question leads us first to the family constitution,
but there is really no question here. The obligations
of parents to their children are the obligations of those
who have already got their settlement to those who
have not; of those who have already got means, and
We advance to the relation of the rich to the
poor, especially of those who are born to riches to
those who are born to obscurity and toil. Had the
providence of God no purpose in this arrangement?
You who come into the world amid luxury and splendour,
who have never been required to work for a single
comfort, who have the means of gratifying expensive
tastes, and who grudge no expenditure on the objects
of your fancy:—was it meant that you were to sustain
no relation of help and sympathy to the poor, especially
your neighbors, your tenants, or your workpeople?
Do you fulfil the obligations of life when, pouring into
your coffers the fruits of other men's toil, you hurry
off to the resorts of wealth and fashion, intent only on
your own enjoyment, and without a thought of the
toiling multitude you leave at home? Is it right of
you to leave deserving people to fall peradventure into
starvation and despair, without so much as turning a
finger to prevent it? What are you doing for the
widows and orphans? Selfish and sinful beings! let
these old Hebrews read you a lesson of condemnation!
Then there is the case of nations, and pre-eminently
of our own. Some races attain to civilization, and
order, and good government sooner than others. They
have all the benefit of settled institutions and enlightened
opinion, of discoveries in the arts and sciences, and of
the manifold comforts and blessings with which life is
thus enriched, while other nations are sunk in barbarism
and convulsed by disorder. But how much more prone
are such nations to claim the rights of superiority than
to play the part of the elder brother! We are thankful
for the great good that has been done in India, and in
other countries controlled by the older nations. But
even in the case of India, how many have gone there
not to benefit the natives, but with the hope of enriching
themselves. How ready have many been to indulge
their own vices at the cost of the natives, and how little
has it pained them to see them becoming the slaves of
new vices that have sunk them lower than before. Our
Indian opium traffic, and our drink traffic generally
among native races—what is their testimony to our
brotherly feeling? What are we to think of the white
traders among the South Sea islands, stealing and
robbing and murdering their feebler fellow-creatures?
What are we to think of the traffic in slaves, and the
inconceivable brutalities with which it is carried on?
Or what are we to think of our traders at home, sending
out in almost uncountable profusion the rum, and the
gin, and the other drinks by which the poor weak
natives are at once enticed, enslaved, and destroyed?
Is there any development in selfishness that has ever
We pass over the case of the early settlers in
colonies, because there is hardly any obligation more
generally recognised than that of such settlers to lend
a helping hand to new arrivals. We go on to the case
of Churches. The light of saving truth has come to
some lands before others. We in this country have
had our Christianity for centuries, and in these recent
years have had so lively a dispensation of the gospel of
Christ that many have felt more than ever His power
to forgive, to comfort, to lift us up and bless us.
Have we no duty to those parts of the earth which are
still in the shadow of death? If we are not actually
settled in the Promised Land, we are as good as settled,
because we have the Divine promise, and we believe in
that promise. But what of those who are yet "without
Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and
strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope,
and without God in the world"? Have we no responsibility
for them? Have we no interest in that Divine
plan which seeks to use those who first receive the
light as instruments of imparting it to the rest?
Infidels object that Christianity cannot be of God,
because if Christianity furnishes the only Divine remedy
for sin it would have been diffused as widely as the
evil for which it is the cure. Our reply is, that God's
plan is to give the light first to some, and to charge
them to give it freely and cordially to others. We say,
moreover, that this plan is a wholesome one for those
And this readiness of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh to fulfil the engagement under which they had come to Moses, was not the only gratifying occurrence which Joshua met with on announcing the impending crossing of the Jordan. For the whole people declared very cordially their acceptance of Joshua as their leader, vowed to him the most explicit fidelity, declared their purpose to pay him the same honour as they had paid to Moses, and denounced a sentence of death against any one that would not hearken to his words in all that he commanded them.
Joshua, in fact, obtained from them a promise of loyalty beyond what they had ever given to Moses till close on his death. It was the great trial of Moses that the people so habitually complained of him and worried him, embittering his life by ascribing to him even the natural hardships of the wilderness, as well as the troubles that sprang directly from their sins. It is the unwillingness of his people to trust him, after all he has sacrificed for them, that gives such a pathetic interest to the life of Moses, and makes him, more than perhaps any other Old Testament prophet, so striking an example of unrequited affection. After crossing the Red Sea, all the marvels of that deliverance from Pharaoh of which he had been the instrument are swallowed up and forgotten by the little inconveniences of the journey. And afterwards, when they are doomed to the forty years' wandering, they are ready enough to blame him for it, forgetting how he fell down before God and pled for them when God threatened to destroy them. Moreover, his enactments against the idolatry they loved so well made him anything but popular, to say nothing of the burdensome ceremonial which he enjoined them to observe. The time of real loyalty to Moses was just the little period before his death, when he led them against Sihon and Og, and a great stretch of fertile and beautiful land fell into their hands. Moses had just gained the greatest victory of his life, he had just become master of the hearts of his people, when he was called away. For Moses at last did gain the people's hearts, and those to whom Joshua appealed could say without irony or sarcasm, "According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee."
In point of fact a great change had been effected on
The unanimity of the people in their loyalty to
Joshua is a touching sight. So far as appears there
was not one discordant note in that harmonious burst
of loyalty. No Korah, Dathan, or Abiram rose up to
decline his rule and embarrass him in his new position.
It is a beautiful sight, the united loyalty of a great
nation. Nothing more beautiful has ever been known
in the long reign of Queen Victoria than the crowding
of her people in hundreds of thousands to witness her
procession to St. Paul's on that morning when she
went to return thanks for the rescue of her eldest son
from the very jaws of death. Not one discordant note
was uttered, not one disloyal feeling was known; the
Joshua ii.
Joshua had been a spy himself, and it was natural enough that he should think of the same mode of reconnoitring the country, now that they were again on the eve of making the entrance into it which they should have made nearly forty years before. There is no reason to think that in taking this step Joshua acted presumptuously, proceeding on his own counsel when he should have sought counsel of God. For Joshua might rightly infer that he ought to take this course inasmuch as it had been followed before with God's approval in the case of the twelve. Its purpose was twofold—to obtain information and confirmation. Information as to the actual condition and spirit of the Canaanites, as to the view they took of the approaching invasion of the Israelites, and the impression that had been made on them by all the remarkable things that had happened in the desert; and confirmation,—new proof for his own people that God was with them, fresh encouragement to go up bravely to the attack, and fresh assurance that not one word would ever fail them of all the things which the Lord had promised.
We follow the two men as they leave Shittim, so
named from the masses of bright acacia which shed their
glory over the plain; then cross the river at "the fords,"
which, flooded though they were, were still practicable for It is somewhat remarkable that the present village of Riha, at
or near the site of the ancient Jericho, is noted for its licentiousness.
The men, it is said, wink at the infidelity of the women, a trait of
character singularly at variance with the customs of the Bedouin.
"At our encampment over 'Ain Terâbeh (says Robinson) the night
before we reached this place, we overheard our Arabs asking the
Khatib for a paper or written charm to protect them from the
women of Jericho; and from their conversation it seemed that illicit
intercourse between the latter and strangers that come here is
regarded as a matter of course. Strange that the inhabitants of the
valley should have retained this character from the earliest ages; and
that the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah should still flourish upon the
same accursed soil."—"Researches in Palestine," i. 553.
Whether disguised or not, the two men had evidently
been noticed and suspected when they entered the city,
which they seem to have done in the dusk of evening.
But, happily for them, the streets of Jericho were not
patrolled by policemen ready to pounce on suspicious
persons, and run them in for judicial examination.
The king or burgomaster of the place seems to have
been the only person with whom it lay to deal with
them. Whoever had detected them, after following
them to Rahab's house, had then to resort to the king's
residence and give their information to him. Rahab
had an inkling of what was likely to follow, and being
determined to save the men, she hid them on the roof
of the house, and covered them with stalks of flax,
stored there for domestic use. When, after some
interval, the king's messengers came, commanding her
to bring them forth since they were Israelites come to
search the city, she was ready with her plausible tale.
Two men had indeed come to her, but she could not
tell who they were,—it was no business of hers to be
We are not prepared for the remarkable development of her faith that followed. This first Canaanite across the Jordan with whom the Israelites met was no ordinary person. Rays of Divine light had entered that unhallowed soul, not to be driven back, not to be hidden under a bushel, but to be welcomed, and ultimately improved and followed. Our minds are carried forward to what was so impressive in the days of our Lord, when the publicans and the harlots entered into the kingdom before the scribes and the pharisees. We are called to admire the riches of the grace of God, who does not scorn the moral leper, but many a time lays His hand upon him, and says "I will, be thou clean." "They shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
In the first place, Rahab made a most explicit confession
of her faith, not only in Jehovah as the God
of the Hebrews, but in Him as the one only God of
heaven and earth. It would have been nothing had
she been willing to give to the Hebrew God a place,
a high place, or even the highest place among the gods.
Her faith went much further. "The Lord your God,
He is God in heaven above and in earth beneath."
Again, she explained the reason for this faith. "We
have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the
Red Sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and
what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that
were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom
ye utterly destroyed." The woman has had an eye to
see and an ear to hear. She has not gazed in stupid
amazement on the marvellous tokens of Divine power
displayed before the world, nor accepted the sophistry
of sceptics referring all these marvels to accidental
thunderstorms and earthquakes and high winds. She
knew better than to suppose that a nation of slaves
by their own resources could have eluded all the might
of Pharaoh, subsisted for forty years in the wilderness,
and annihilated the forces of such renowned potentates
as Sihon and Og. She was no philosopher, and could
not have reasoned on the doctrine of causation, but her
common sense taught her that you cannot have extraordinary
effects without corresponding causes. It is one
of the great weaknesses of modern unbelief that with
all its pretensions to philosophy, it is constantly accepting
effects without an adequate cause. Jesus Christ,
though He revolutionized the world, though He founded
an empire to which that of the Cæsars is not for a
moment to be compared, though all that were about
Him admitted His supernatural power and person, after
all, was nothing but a man. The gospel that has
Further, Rahab informed the spies that when they heard these things the inhabitants of the land had become faint, their hearts melted, and there remained no more courage in them because of the Israelites. For they felt that the tremendous Power that had desolated Egypt and dried up the sea, that had crushed Sihon King of the Amorites and Og King of Bashan like nuts under the feet of a giant, was now close upon themselves. What could they do to arrest the march of such a power, and avert the ruin which it was sure to inflict? They had neither resource nor refuge—their hearts melted in them. It is when Divine Power draws near to men, or when men draw near to Divine Power that they get the right measure of its dimensions and the right sense of their own impotence. Caligula could scoff at the gods at a distance, but in any calamity no man was more prostrate with terror. It is easy for the atheist or the agnostic to assume a bold front when God is far off, but woe betide him when He draws near in war, in pestilence, or in death!
If we ask, How could Rahab have such a faith and
yet be a harlot? or how could she have such faith in
We have to notice further in Rahab a determination
to throw in her lot with the people of God. In spirit
she had ceased to be a Canaanite and become an
Israelite. She showed this by taking the side of the
spies against the king, and exposing herself to certain
And yet, though her faith may at this time have been
but as a grain of mustard seed, we see two effects of
it that are not to be despised. One was her protection
of the Lord's people, as represented by the spies; the
other was her concern for her own relations. Father,
mother, brothers, and sisters and all that they had,
were dear to her, and she took measures for their
safety when the destruction of Jericho should come.
She exacted an oath of the two spies, and asked a
Some commentators have laid considerable stress on the line of scarlet thread that was to be displayed in the window by which the spies had been let down, as a token and remembrance that that house was to be spared when the victorious army should enter Jericho. In that scarlet thread they have seen an emblem of atonement, an emblem of the blood of Christ by which sinners are redeemed. To us it seems more likely that, in fixing on this as the pledge of safety, the spies had in view the blood sprinkled on the lintels and door posts of the Hebrew houses in Egypt by which the destroying angel was guided to pass them by. The scarlet rope had some resemblance to blood, and for this reason its special purpose might be more readily apprehended. Obviously the spies had no time to go into elaborate explanations at the moment. It is to be observed that, as the window looked to the outside of the city, the cord would be observed by the Israelites and the house recognised as they marched round and round, according to the instructions of Joshua. Not a man of all the host but would see it again and again, as they performed their singular march, and would mark the position of the house so carefully that its inmates, gathered together like the family of Noah in the ark, would be preserved in perfect safety.
The stratagem of Rahab, and the mode of flight
which she recommended to the spies, fruits of woman's
When the spies return to Joshua and tell him all
that has befallen them, he accepts their adventure as a
token for good. They have not given him any hint
how Jericho is to be taken; but, what is better, they
have shown him that the outstretched arm of God has
been seen by the heathen, and that the inhabitants of
the country are paralysed on account of it. The two
spies were a great contrast to the ten that accompanied
Joshua iii. 1-7.
The host of Israel lay encamped at Shittim, or Abel
Shittim, "the meadow or moist place of the acacias,"
somewhere in the Arboth-Moab or fields of Moab.
The exact spot is unknown, but it was near the foot
of the Moabite mountains, where the streams, coming
down from the heights on their way to the Jordan,
caused a luxuriant growth of acacias, such as are still
found in some of the adjacent parts. Sunk as this part
of the plain is far below the level of the Mediterranean,
and enclosed by the mountains behind it as by the walls
of a furnace, it possesses an almost tropical climate
which, though agreeable enough in winter and early
spring, would have been unbearable to the Israelites in
the height of summer. It was while Israel "abode
in Shittim," during the lifetime of Moses, that they
were seduced by the Moabites to join in the idolatrous
revels of Baal-peor and punished with the plague.
The acacia groves gave facilities for the unhallowed
The Jordan was not crossed then by bridges nor by ferry boats; the only way of crossing was by fords. The ford nearest to Jericho, now called El Mashra'a, is well known; it was the ford the Israelites would have used had the river been fordable; and perhaps the tradition is correct that there the crossing actually took place. When the spies crossed and recrossed the river it must have been by swimming, as it was too deep for wading at the time; but though this mode of crossing was possible for individuals, it was manifestly out of the question for a host. That the Israelites could by no possibility cross at that season must have been the forlorn hope of the people of Jericho; possibly they smiled at the folly of Joshua in choosing such a time of the year, and asked in derision, How is he ever to get over?
The appointed day for leaving Shittim has come, and
Joshua, determined to lose no time, rises "early in the
morning." Nor is it without a purpose that so often
in the Old Testament narrative, when men of might
commence some great undertaking, we are told that it
was early in the morning. In all hot climates work
in the open air, if done at all, must be done early in
the morning or in the evening. But, besides this,
morning is the appropriate time for men of great energy
and decision to be astir; and it readily connects itself
with the New Testament text—"Not slothful in business,
fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." The benefits of
an early start for all kinds of successful work are in
the proverbs of all nations; and we may add that few
have reached a high position in the Christian life who
From Shittim to the banks of the Jordan is an easy journey of a few miles, the road being all over level ground, so that the march was probably finished before the sun had risen high. However strong their faith, it could not be without a certain tremor of heart that the people would behold the swollen river, and mark the walls and towers of Jericho a few miles beyond. Three days are to be allowed, if not for physical, certainly for moral and spiritual preparation for the crossing of the river. The three days are probably the same as those adverted to before (chap. i. 3), just as the order to select twelve men to set up twelve stones (chap. iii. 12) is probably the same as that more fully detailed in chap. iv. 2. The host is assembled in orderly array on the east bank of the Jordan, when the officers pass through to give instructions as to their further procedure. Three such instructions are given.
First, they are to follow the ark. Whenever they
see the priests that bear it in motion, they are to move
from their places and follow it. There was no longer
the pillar of fire to guide them—that was a wilderness-symbol
of God's presence, now superseded by a more
permanent symbol—the ark. Both symbols represented
the same great truth—the gracious presence and
guidance of God, and both called the people to the
same duty and privilege, and to the same assurance of
absolute safety so long as they followed the Lord.
Familiar sights are apt to lose their significance, and
the people must have become so familiar with the
Secondly, a span of two thousand cubits was to be
left between the people and the ark. Some have thought
that this was designed as a token of reverence; but
this is not the reason assigned. Had it been designed
as a token of reverence, it would have been prescribed
long before, as soon as the ark was constructed, and
began to be carried with the host through the wilderness.
The intention was, "that ye may know the way by
which you must go" (ver. 4). If this arrangement had
not been made, the course of the ark through the flat
plains of the Jordan would not have been visible to the
mass of the host, but only to those in the immediate
neighbourhood, and the people would have been liable
to straggle and fall into confusion, if not to diverge
altogether. In all cases, when we are looking out for
Divine guidance, it is of supreme importance that there
be nothing in the way to obscure the object or to
Thirdly, the people were instructed,—"Sanctify
yourselves, for to-morrow the Lord will do wonders
among you." It is an instinct of our nature that when
we are to meet with some one of superior worldly rank
preparation must be made for the meeting. When
Joseph was summoned into the presence of Pharaoh,
and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon, "he
shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in
unto Pharaoh." The poorest subject of the realm
would try to wear his best and to look his best in the
presence of his sovereign. But while "man looketh on
the outward appearance the Lord looketh on the heart."
Next day (compare ver. 5, "to-morrow," and ver. 7, "this day") Joshua turns to the priests and bids them "take up the ark of the covenant." The priests obey; "they take up the ark, and go before the people."
Shall we take notice of the assertion of some that all
those parts of the narrative which refer to priests and
religious service were introduced by a writer bent on
glorifying the priesthood? Or must we repel the
insinuation that the introduction of the ark, and the
miraculous effects ascribed to its presence, are mere
myths? If they are mere myths, they are certainly
myths of a very peculiar kind. Twice only in this
book is the ark associated with miraculous events—at
The taking up of the ark by the priests was a decisive step. There could be no resiling now from the course entered on. The priests with the ark must advance, and it will be seen whether Joshua has been uttering words without foundation, or whether he has been speaking in the name of God. Shall mere natural forces be brought into play, or shall the supernatural might of heaven come to the conflict, and show that God is faithful to His promise?
Let us put ourselves in Joshua's position. We do
not know in what manner the communications were
carried on between him and Jehovah of which we
have the record under the words "the Lord spake
unto Joshua." Was it by an audible voice? Or was
it by impressions on Joshua's mind of a kind that could
not have originated with himself, but that were plainly
the result of Divine influence? In any case, they were
such as to convey to Joshua a very clear knowledge of
the Divine will. Yet even in the best of men nature is
not so thoroughly subdued in such circumstances but
that the shadow of anxiety and fear is liable to flit
across them. They crave something like a personal
pledge that all will go well. Hence the seasonableness
It is an experience which has been often repeated
in the case of those who have had to undertake difficult
work for their Master. Of all our misapprehensions,
the most baseless and the most pernicious is, that
God does not care much about us, and that we have
not much to look for from Him. It is a misapprehension
which dishonours God greatly, and which He is
ever showing Himself most desirous to remove. It
stands fearfully in the way of that spirit of trust by
which God is so much honoured, and which He is ever
It is sometimes said that the Old Testament presents
us with a somewhat limited view of God's love. Certainly
it is in the New Testament that we see it placed
Joshua iii.
Stanley's "Sinai and Palestine," p. 303.
'While Jordan rolled between,'
full to the brim, and overflowing all its banks. Nevertheless,
through it lies their road, and God commands
the march. The priests take up the sacred ark and "Land and Book," vol. ii., pp. 460-61.
The description of the parting of the waters is clear
enough in the main, though somewhat obscure in detail.
The obscurity arises from the meaningless expression
in the Authorized Version, "very far from the city
Adam, which is beside Zaretan." The Revised rendering
gives a much more natural meaning—"rose up in
one heap, very far off, at Adam, the city that is beside
Zarethan." The names Adam and Zaretan occur
nowhere else in Scripture, nor are they mentioned by
Josephus; some think we have a relic of Adam in the
first part of ed-Damieh, the name of a ford, and others,
following the rendering of the Septuagint, which has
ἕως μέρους Καριαθιαρίμ, consider the final "arim" to be
equivalent to "adim" or "adam," the Hebrew letter "r"
being almost the same as "d." What we are taught is,
that the waters were cut off from the descending river
a long way up, while down below the whole channel
was laid bare as far as the Dead Sea. The miracle
involved an accumulation of water in the upper reaches
of the river, and as it was obviously undesirable that
this should continue for a long time, enough of the
channel was laid bare to enable the great host to cross
rapidly in a broad belt, and without excitement or confusion.
As soon as the waters began to retreat, after the feet of the priests were planted in them, the priests passed on to the middle of the channel, and stood there "firm, on dry ground," until all the people were passed clean over. The vast host crossed at once, and drew up on the opposite bank. That no attempt was made by the men of Jericho, which was only about five miles on, to attack them and stop their passage, can be explained only on the supposition that they were stricken with panic. One inhabitant undoubtedly heard of the passage without surprise. Rahab could feel no astonishment that the arm of God should thus be made bare before the people whom He was pledged to protect and guide. As little could she wonder at the paralysis which had petrified her own people.
The priests passed on before the people, and stood
firm in the midst of the river until the whole host had
passed. It was both a becoming thing that they should
go before, and that they should stand so firm. It is
not always that either priests or Christian ministers
have set the example of going before in any hazardous
undertaking. They have not always moved so steadily
in the van of great movements, nor stood so firmly in
the midst of the river. What shall we say of those
whose idea, whether of Hebrew priesthood or of Christian
ministry, has been that of a mere office, that of men
ordained to perform certain mechanical functions, in
whom personal character and personal example signified
little or nothing? Is it not infinitely nearer to the
Bible view that the ministers of religion are the leaders
of the people, and that they ought as such to be ever
Who shall try to picture the feelings of the people
during that memorable crossing? The outstretched
arm of God was even more visibly shown than in the
crossing of the Red Sea, for in that case a natural
cause, the strong east wind, contributed something
to the effect, while in this case no secondary cause was
employed, the drying up of the channel being due solely
to miracle. Who among all that host could fail to feel
that God was with them? And how solemn yet
cheering must the thought have been alike to the
men of war looking forward to scenes of danger and
death, and to the women and children, and the aged
and infirm, dreading otherwise lest they should be
trampled down amid the tumult! But of all whose
hearts were moved by the marvellous transaction,
It is to be especially remarked that God took into
His own hands the prescription of the method by which
this great event was to be commemorated. It seems
as if He could not trust the people to do it in a way
that would be free from objection and from evil tendency.
It was assumed that the event was worthy of special
commemoration. True, indeed, there had been no
special commemoration of the passage of the sea, but
then the Passover was instituted so near to that event
that it might serve as a memorial of it as well as of
the protection of the Israelites when the firstborn of
the Egyptians was slain. And generally the people
had been taught, what their own hearts in some degree
recognised, that great mercies should be specially commemorated.
It would appear, from chap. iv. 9, that two sets of
stones were set up, Joshua, following the spirit of
the Divine direction, having caused a second set to
be erected in the middle of the river on the spot where
the priests had stood. Some have supposed that that
verse is an interpolation of later date; but, as it occurs
in all the manuscripts, and as it is expressly stated in
the Septuagint and Vulgate versions that this was a
different transaction from the other, we must accept
it as such. The one memorial stood on the spot
where the ark had indicated the presence of God, the
other where the first encampment of the host had
Among devout Israelites, that day was never forgotten. The crossing of the Jordan was coupled with the crossing of the sea, as the two crowning tokens of God's mercy in the history of Israel, and the most remarkable exhibitions of that Divine power which had been so often shown among them. In that wailing song, the seventy-fourth psalm, where God's wonderful works of old are contrasted in a very sad spirit with the unmitigated desolations that met the writer's eye, almost in the same breath in which he extols the miracle of the sea, "Thou didst divide the sea by Thy strength," he gives thanks for the miracle of the river, "Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: Thou driedst up mighty rivers." And in a song, not of wailing, but of triumph, the hundred and fourteenth psalm, we have the same combination:—
The point of this psalm lies in the first verse—in the reference to the time "when Israel came out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language." Israel on that occasion gave a signal proof of his trust in God. At God's bidding, and with none but God to trust in, he turned his back on Egypt, and made for the wilderness. It was a delight to God to receive this mark of trust and obedience, and in recognition of it the mightiest masses and forces of nature were moved or arrested. The mountains and hills skipped like living creatures, and the sea saw it and fled. It seemed as if God could not do too much for His people. It was the same spirit that was shown when they followed Joshua to the river. They showed that they trusted God. They renounced the visible and the tangible for the invisible and the spiritual. They rose up at Joshua's command, or rather at the command of God by Joshua; and, pleased with this mark of trust, God caused the waters of the Jordan to part asunder. Surely there is something pathetic in this; the Almighty is so pleased when His children trust Him, that to serve them the strongest forces are moved about as if they were but feathers.
In many ways the truth has been exemplified in later
times. When a young convert, at home or abroad,
takes up decided ground for Christ, coming out from
the world and becoming separate, very blessed tokens
of God's nearness and of God's interest are usually
given him. And Churches that at the call of Christ
Occurrences of more recent times show clearly that God did well in taking into His own hands the prescription of the way in which the crossing of the Jordan was to be commemorated. Tradition has it that it was at the same place where Joshua crossed that Jesus was baptized by John. That may well be doubted, for the Bethabara where John was baptizing was probably at a higher point of the river. But it is quite possible that it was at this spot that Elijah's mantle smote the river, and he and his servant passed over on dry ground. Holding that all these events occurred at the same place, tradition has called in the aid of superstition, and given a sacred character to the waters of the river at this spot. Many have seen, and every one has read of the pilgrimage to the Jordan, performed every spring, from which many hope to reap such advantage. "In the mosaics of the earliest churches at Rome and Ravenna," says Dean Stanley, "before Christian and pagan art were yet divided, the Jordan appears as a river god pouring his streams out of his urn. The first Christian emperor had always hoped to receive his long-deferred baptism in the Jordan, up to the moment when the hand of death struck him at Nicomedia.... Protestants, as well as Greeks and Latins, have delighted to carry off its waters for the same sacred purpose to the remotest regions of the West."
No doubt the expectation of spiritual benefit from
the waters of the Jordan is one cause of the annual
pilgrimage thither, and of the strange scene that
Thus it was that by God's prescription the twelve plain
stones taken out of the Jordan were the only memorial of
the great deliverance. There was no likeness on them
of the Divine Being by whom the miracle had been
performed. There was nothing to encourage acts of
reverence or worship directed toward the memorial.
Twelve rough stones, with no sculptured figures or
symbols, not even dressed by hammer and chisel, but
simply as they were taken out of the river, were the
Joshua v. 1-12.
It is with no little surprise that we read that circumcision
had been suspended during the long period of
the wilderness sojourn. Why was this? Some have
said that, owing to the circumstances in which the
people were, it would not have been convenient, perhaps
hardly possible, to administer the rite on the
eighth day. Moving as they were from place to place,
the administration of circumcision would often have
caused so much pain and peril to the child, that it
is no wonder it was delayed. And once delayed, it
was delayed indefinitely. But this explanation is not
sufficient. There were long, very long periods of rest,
during which there could have been no difficulty. A
better explanation, brought forward by Calvin, leads
us to connect the suspension of circumcision with the
punishment of the Israelites, and with the sentence
that doomed them to wander forty years in the wilderness.
When the worship of the golden calf took place,
the nation was rejected, and the breaking by Moses of
the two tables of stone seemed an appropriate sequel
to the rupture of the covenant which their idolatry had
caused. And though they were soon restored, they
were not restored without certain drawbacks,—tokens
of the Divine displeasure. Afterwards, at the great
outburst of unbelief in connection with the report of
the spies, the adult generation that had come out of
Egypt were doomed to perish in the wilderness, and,
But it was not an abolition, but only a suspension of the sacrament for a time that took place. The time might come when it would be restored. The natural time for this would be the end of the forty years of chastisement. These forty years had now come to an end. Doubtless it would have been a great joy to Moses if it had been given him to see the restoration of circumcision, but that was not to take place until the people had set foot on Abraham's land. Now they have crossed the river. They have entered on the very land which God sware to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob to give it them. And the very first thing that is done after this is to give back to them the holy sign of the covenant, which was now administered to every man in the congregation who had not previously received it. We may well think of it as an occasion of great rejoicing. The visible token of his being one of God's children was now borne by every man and boy in the camp. In a sense they now served themselves heirs to the covenant made with their fathers, and might thus rest with firmer trust on the promise—"I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee."
Two other points in connection with this transaction
demand a word of explanation. The first is the statement
that "all the people that were born in the wilderness
by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them
they had not circumcised" (ver. 5). If the view be
Circumcision being now duly performed, the way was
prepared for another holy rite for which the appointed
season had arrived—the Passover. Some have supposed
that the Passover as well as circumcision was
suspended after the sentence of the forty years' wandering,
the more especially that it was expressly enacted
that no uncircumcised person was to eat the Passover.
We know (
The remembrance of the past is often an excellent
preparation for the trials of the future, and as often it
proves a remarkable support under them. It was the
very nature of the Passover to look back to the past,
and to recall God's first great interposition on behalf
of His people. It was a precious encouragement both
to faith and hope. So also is our Christian Passover.
It is a connecting link between the first and second
comings of our Lord. The first coming lends support
to faith, the second to hope. No exercise of soul can
be more profitable than to go back to that memorable
day when Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us.
For then the price of redemption was paid in full, and
Yet another incident is connected with this transition period of the history. "They did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day. And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year." It is not necessary to suppose that they did not partake at all of the fruits of the land till the morning after that Passover. The conquest of Sihon and Og must have put a large share of produce in their hands, and we can hardly suppose that they did not make some use of it. The narrative is so brief that it does not undertake to state every modification that may be applicable to its general statements. The main thing to be noticed is, that while the manna continued to descend, it was the staple article of food; but when the manna was withdrawn, the old corn and other fruits of the country took its place. In other words, the miracle was not continued when it ceased to be necessary. The manna had been a provision for the wilderness, where ordinary food in sufficient quantity could not be obtained; but now that they were in a land of fields and orchards and vineyards the manna was withdrawn.
We have already adverted to the Bible law of the
supernatural. No sanction is given to the idea of a
More generally, this occurrence in the history of
Israel, the cessation of one provision when another
comes into operation, exemplifies a great law in
providence by which the loss of one kind of advantage
is compensated by the advent of another. In childhood
and early youth we depend for our growth in knowledge
on the instructions of our teachers. What puzzles
us we refer to them, and they guide us through the
difficulty. If they are wise teachers they will not tell
us everything, but they will put us on the right method
to find out. Still they are there as a court of appeal,
so to speak, and we have always the satisfaction of a
So in family life. The affection that binds parents
and children, brothers and sisters to one another in
the family is both beautiful and delightful; and it
were no wonder if, on the part of some, there were the
desire that their intercourse should suffer no rude
break, but go on unchanged for an indefinite time.
But it is seldom God's will that family life shall
remain unbroken. Often the interruption comes in
the rudest and most terrible form—by the death of
the head of the house. And the circumstances of the
family may require that all who are capable of earning
anything shall turn out to increase the family store.
It is often a painful and distressing change. But at
least it wakens up all who can do anything, it rescues
them from the temptation of a slumbering, aimless life,
and often draws out useful gifts that turn their lives
into a real blessing. And there are other compensations.
When Sarah died, Isaac was left with an
empty heart; but when Rebecca came to him, he was
comforted. The precise blank that death leaves may
never be wholly filled, but the heart expands in other
directions, and with new objects of affection the
Then there is the happy experience by which the advent of spiritual blessings compensates the loss of temporal. Nothing at first appears more desolate than loss of fortune, loss of health, or loss of some principal bodily sense—like sight or hearing. But in a Milton intellectual vigour, patriotic ardour, and poetic sensibility attain their noblest elevation, though
It is the total loss of hearing, the result of a sudden
accident, that turns the slater, John Kitto, into a most
instructive and interesting Oriental scholar and writer.
How often temporal loss has proved in a higher sense
spiritual gain, all Christian biography testifies. Such
instances are not uncommon as that which the Rev.
Charles Simeon gives, in speaking of some blind men
from Edinburgh whom nearly a century ago he found
at work in a country house in Scotland: "One of
the blind men, on being interrogated with respect to
his knowledge of spiritual things, answered, 'I never
saw till I was blind; nor did I ever know contentment
while I had my eyesight, as I do now that I have
lost it; I can truly affirm, though few know how to
credit me, that I would on no account change my "Life of Rev. Charles Simeon," p. 125.
Lastly, of all exchanges in room of old provisions the most striking is that which our Lord thus set forth: "It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you." If we should think of life, even the Christian life, as a mere time of enjoyment, albeit spiritual enjoyment, no statement could be more paradoxical or unpalatable. It is because life is a training school, and because what we most need in that school is the immediate action of the Divine Spirit on our spirits, purifying, elevating, strengthening, guiding all that is deepest in our nature, that our Lord's words are true. Very precious had been the manna that ceased when Jesus left. But more nourishing is the new corn with which the Spirit feeds us. Let us prize it greatly so long as we are in the flesh. We shall know the good of it when we enter on the next stage of our being. Then, in the fullest sense, the manna will cease, and we shall eat the corn of the land.
Joshua v. 13-15, vi. 1.
A less courageous man would have been startled,
If the appearance of the soldier was a surprise, his answer to the question must have been a greater. "Nay; but as Captain of the host of the Lord am I now come." The "nay" deprecates his being either friend or foe in the common sense, but especially his being foe. His position and his office are far more exalted. As Captain of the host of the Lord, he is at the head, not of human armies, but of all the principalities and powers of heavenly places,—
And now the real situation flashes on Joshua. This
soldier is no other than the Angel of the Covenant,
the same who came to Abraham under the oak at
Mamre, and that wrestled with Jacob on the banks
of this very Jordan at Peniel. Joshua could not but
remember, when God threatened to withdraw from
Israel after the sin of the golden calf, and send some
created angel to guide them through the wilderness,
how earnestly Moses remonstrated, and how his whole
soul was thrown into the pleading—"If Thy presence
go not with us, carry me not up hence." He could
It is not likely that Joshua found any cause to discuss
the question that modern criticism has so earnestly
handled, whether this being that now appeared in
human form really was Jehovah. And as little does
it seem necessary for us to discuss it. There seems no
good reason to reject the view that these theophanies,
though not incarnations, were yet foreshadows of the
It has often been remarked as an instructive circumstance,
that now, as on other occasions, the Angel of the
Lord appeared in the character most adapted to the
circumstances of His people. He appeared as a soldier
with a drawn sword in His hand. A long course of
fighting lay before the Israelites ere they could get
It was not in this spirit nor in this attitude that the Angel of the Covenant had met with Jacob, centuries before, a little higher up the river, at the confluence of the Jabbok. Yet there was not a little that was similar in the two meetings. Like Joshua now, Jacob was then about to enter the land of promise. Like him, he was confronted by an enemy in possession, who, in Jacob's case, was bent on avenging the wrong of his youth. How that enemy was to be overcome Jacob knew not, just as Joshua knew not how Jericho was to be taken. But there was this difference between the two, that in Jacob's case the Angel dealt with him as an opponent; in Joshua's He avowed Himself a friend. The difference was no doubt due to the different dispositions of the two men. Jacob does not seem to have felt that it was only in God's name, and in God's strength, and under God's protection that he could enter Canaan; he appears to have been trusting too much to his own devices,—especially to the munificent present which he had forwarded to his brother. He must be taught the lesson "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord." At first Jacob dealt with his opponent simply as an obstructionist; then he discovered His Divine rank, and immediately he became the aggressor, and, spite of his dislocated thigh, held on to his opponent, declaring that he would not let Him go except He blessed him. It is otherwise with Joshua. He has no personal matter to settle with God before he is ready to advance into the land. He is in perplexity, and the Angel comes to relieve him. It is neither for reproof nor correction but simply for blessing that He is there.
The appearance of the Angel denoted a special method
of communication with Joshua. We have already remarked
that we do not know in what manner God's
The moment that Joshua understood with whom he
was conversing, he fell on his face, and offered to his
visitor not only obeisance but worship, which the visitor
did not decline. And then came a question indicating
profound regard for his Lord's will, and readiness to
do whatsoever he might be told—"What saith my Lord
unto His servant?" It cannot but remind us of the
question put by Saul to the Lord while yet lying on
the ground on the way to Damascus—"Lord, what
wilt Thou have me to do?" Joshua compares favourably
with Moses at the burning bush, not only now,
but throughout the whole interview. No word of
remonstrance does he utter, no token of unwillingness
The first answer to the question "What saith my
Lord unto His servant?" is somewhat remarkable.
"Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon
thou standest is holy." Rationalists have explained
this as meaning that this was an ancient shrine of the
Canaanites, and therefore a place holy in the eyes of
Israel; but such an idea needs no refutation. Others
conceive it to mean that Joshua, having crossed the
Jordan, had now set foot on the land promised to the
fathers, and that the soil for that reason was called
holy. But if that was the reason for his putting off
And then follow God's instructions for the taking
of Jericho. Never was such a method propounded to
reasonable man, or one more open to the objections
and exceptions of worldly wisdom. No arrangement
of his forces could have been more open to objection
than that which God required of him. He was to
march round Jericho once a day for six successive
days, and seven times on the seventh day, the priests
carrying the ark and blowing with trumpets, the men
of war going before, and others following the ark,
making a long narrow line round the place. We know
that the city was provided with gates, like other fortified
cities. What was there to prevent the men of Jericho
from sallying out at each of the gates, breaking up the
line of Israel into sections, separating them from each
other, and inflicting dreadful slaughter on each? Such
a march round the city seems to be the very way
to invite a murderous attack. But it is the Divine
command. And this process of surrounding the city
is to be carried on in absolute silence on the part of the
people, with no noise save the sounding of trumpets
until a signal is given; then a great shout is to be
raised, and the walls of Jericho are to fall down flat
on the ground. Who would have thought it strange if
Joshua had been somewhat staggered by so singular
Nor do the priests or the people appear to have
made any objection on their part. The plan no doubt
exposed them to two things which men do not like,
ridicule and danger. Possibly the ridicule was as hard
to bear as the danger. God would protect them from
the danger, but who would shield them from the
ridicule? Even if at the end of the seven days, the
promised result should take place, would it not be hard
to make themselves for a whole week the sport of the
men of Jericho, who would ask all that time whether
they had lost their senses, whether they imagined that
they would terrify them into surrender by the sound of
their rams' horns? How often, especially in the case
of young persons, do we find this dread of ridicule the
greatest obstacle to Christian loyalty? And even
where they have the strongest conviction that ere long
the laugh, if laughter may be spoken of in the case,
will be turned against their tormentors, and that it will
be clearly seen who the men are whom the King
delighteth to honour, what misery is caused for the
time by ridicule, and how often do the young prove
And hence, too, the reason why, in the eleventh chapter
of Hebrews, the falling down of the walls of Jericho is
specially accounted for as the result of faith: "By
faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were
compassed about seven days" (ver. 30). The act of
faith lay in the conviction that God, who had prescribed
the method of attack, foolish though it seemed, would
infallibly bring it to a successful issue. It was not
merely Joshua's faith, but the priests' faith, and the
people's faith, that shone in the transaction. Faith
repelled the idea that the enemy would sally forth and
break their ranks; it triumphed over the scorn and
ridicule which would certainly be poured on them; it
knew that God had given the directions, and it was
convinced that He would bring all to a triumphant
issue. Never had the spiritual thermometer risen so
high in Israel, and seldom did it rise so high at any
future period of their history. That singular week,
We sometimes speak of "ages of faith." There have been times when the disposition to believe in the unseen, in the presence and power of God, and in the certain success at last of all that is done in obedience to His will, has dominated whole communities, and led to a wonderful measure of holy obedience. Such a period was this age of Joshua. We cannot say, thinking of ourselves, that the present is an age of faith. Rather, on the part of the masses, it is an age when the secular, the visible, the present lords it over men's minds. Yet we are not left without splendid examples of faith. The missionary enterprise that contemplates the conquest of the whole world for Christ, because God has given to His Messiah the heathen for His inheritance and the uttermost part of the earth for His possession, and that looks forward to the day when this promise shall be fulfilled to the letter, is a fruit of faith. And the ready surrender of so many young lives for the world's evangelization, as missionaries, and teachers, and medical men and women, is a crowning proof that faith is not dead among us. Would only it were a faith that pervaded the whole community,—princes, priests, and people alike; and that there were a harmony among us in the attack on the strongholds of sin and Satan as great as there was in the host of Israel when the people, one in heart and one in hope, marched out, day after day, round the walls of Jericho!
Joshua vi. 8-27.
There is no difficulty in perceiving the great lesson
for all time to be derived from this extraordinary transaction,
or the great law of the kingdom of God that
was made so conspicuous by it. When we have clear
indications of the Divine mind as to any course of
action, we are to advance to it promptly and without
fear, even though the means at our disposal appear
Far more effectual has this brave and thorough
method of doing the Divine will proved than all the
contrivances of compromise and worldly wisdom. The
attempt to serve two masters has never proved either
dignified or permanently successful. "If the Lord
be God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him;"
but do not attempt to combine in one what will please
God and Baal too. It is the single eye that is full
of light, and full of blessing. If God really is our
Master, all the resources of heaven and earth are at
our back. If we are able to go forward in sole and
simple reliance on His might, as David did in the
conflict with Goliath, all will go well. If we waver
in our trust in Him, if we fly to the resources of human
policy, if we seek deliverance from present evil at
whatever cost, we arrest, as it were, the electric current
flowing from heaven, and become weak as other men.
Still more if we are guilty of deceit and cunning.
How different was David confronting Goliath, and
This, however, is but one half the lesson of the siege
of Jericho. The other and not less valuable lesson is,
that in many good enterprises, all that is done may
appear for a long time to be labour lost, and not to
advance us by one step nearer to the object in view.
For six days the priests carried the ark round Jericho,
but not one stone was loosened from the walls, not by
one iota did the defences seem to yield. Six times
on the seventh day there was an equally complete
want of result. Nay, the seventh perambulation on
the seventh day appeared to be equally unsuccessful,
until the very last moment; but when that moment
came, the whole defences of the city came tumbling
to the ground. It is often God's method to do a great
deal of work unseen, and then on a sudden effect the
consummation. And whenever we are working in
accordance with God's will, it is our encouragement
to believe that though our visible success is hardly
appreciable, yet good and real work is done. For
one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and
a thousand years as one day. Sometimes in a thousand
years God does not seem to accomplish a good day's
It is the prerogative of faith to believe that the same law of Providence is ever in operation, and that the rapidity with which some great drama is to be wound up may be as striking as the slowness of its movement was trying in its earlier stages. May we not be living in an age destined to furnish another great example of this law? The years as they pass seem laden with great events, and we seem to hear the angel that hath power over fire calling to the angel with the sharp sickle,—"Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for the grapes thereof are fully ripe." We cannot tell but before a year ends some grand purpose of Providence shall be accomplished, the death blow given to some system of force or of fraud that has scourged the earth for centuries, or some great prophetic cycle completed for which Simeons and Annas have been watching more than they that watch for the morning. God hasten the day when on every side truth shall finally triumph over error, good over evil, peace over strife, love over selfishness, and order over confusion; and when from every section of God's great but scattered family the shout of triumph shall go up, "Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth."
But let us return to the narrative of the fall of Jericho, and advert to two of the difficulties that have occurred to many minds in connection with it; one of comparatively little moment, but another of far more serious import.
The lesser difficulty is connected with the order to march round Jericho for seven successive days. Was it not contrary to the spirit of the law to make no difference on the Sabbath? As the narrative reads we are led to think that the Sabbath was the last of the seven days, in which case, instead of a cessation of labour, there was an increase of it sevenfold. Possibly this may be a mistake; but at the least it seems as if, all days being treated alike, there was a neglect of the precept, "In it thou shalt not do any work."
To this it has usually been replied that the law of the Sabbath being only a matter of arrangement, and not founded on any unchangeable obligation, it was quite competent for God to suspend it or for a time repeal it, if occasion required. The present instance has been viewed as one of those exceptional occasions when the obligation to do no work was suspended for a time. But this is hardly a satisfactory explanation. Was it likely that immediately after God had so solemnly charged Joshua respecting the book of the law, that it was "not to depart out of his mouth, but he was to meditate therein day and night, to observe to do according to all that was written therein," that almost on the first occurrence of a public national interest He would direct him to disregard the law of the Sabbath? Or was it likely that now that the people were about to get possession of the land, under the most sacred obligation to frame both their national and their personal life by the Divine law, one of the most outstanding requirements of that law should be even temporarily superseded? We cannot help thinking that it is in another direction that we must look for the solution of this difficulty.
And what seems the just explanation is, that this
A more serious objection in the eyes of many is that
which is founded on the promiscuous massacre of the
people of Jericho, which, according to the narrative, the
Israelites were ordered to make. And it is not wonderful
that, with the remarkable sense of the sanctity
of human life attained in our country and in our age,
We reserve the general question for consideration
further on. See Chapter XXXI., "Jehovah the Champion of Israel."
The only things saved from utter destruction at Jericho
were the gold and the silver and other metallic substances,
which were put into the treasury of the house
of the Lord. The fact that the "house of the Lord,"
situated at this time at Gilgal, was an establishment
of such size as to be able to employ all these things
We hear of Jericho from time to time as a place
of abode both in the Old Testament and in the New;
but when Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt it with walls and
gates, "he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his
firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest
son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which He
spake by Joshua the son of Nun" (
Joshua vi. 17, 22-25.
But though she was not one of those whose contrite
and holy love painters delight to represent, she belonged
But the time has now come for her to reap the
reward of her faith and its works. In her case there
was but a short interval between the sowing and the
reaping. And God showed Himself able to do in
her exceeding abundantly above what she could ask
or think. For she was not only protected when
Jericho and all its people were destroyed, but incorporated
with the children of Israel. She became
an heir of Abraham's blessing; she came among those
"to whom pertained the adoption, and the glory, and
the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service
of God, and the promises." An old tradition made
her the wife of Joshua, but, according to the genealogies
she married Salmon (
Very special mention is made of her in the narrative
No doubt the scarlet cord was hung from her window,
as had been arranged with the spies, and the Israelites,
when they saw it, would be reminded of the blood of
the lamb sprinkled on their door posts and lintels when
the destroying angel passed through Egypt. It was
the two men who had acted as spies that Joshua
instructed to enter her house, and bring out the woman
and all that she had. And a happy woman she no
doubt was when she saw the faces of her old guests,
and under their protection was brought out with all her
kindred and all that she had and led to a place of safety.
It is a blessed time, after you have stood fast to duty
while many have failed, when the hour comes that
brings you peace and blessing, while it carries confusion
and misery to the faithless. How thankful one is at
such a moment for the grace that enabled one to choose
the right! With what awe one looks into the gulf on
whose edge one stood, and thanks God for the grace
that brought the victory! And how often is the
welfare of a lifetime secured in some crisis by the firm
attitude of an hour. What do we not gain by patience
when we do the right and wait for the reward? One
of the pictures in the Interpreter's House is that of "a
little room where sat two little children, each in his
chair. The name of the eldest was Passion, and of the
other Patience. Passion seemed much discontent, but
Patience was very quiet. Then asked Christian, What
is the reason of the discontent of Passion? The Interpreter
answered, The Governor of them would have them
stay for his best things till the beginning of the next
year; but he will have them all now; but Patience is
willing to wait." How invaluable is the spirit that can
wait till the beginning of the next year! And especially
with reference to the awards of eternity. The rush
The case of Rahab was one of those where whole
families were saved on account of the faith of one
member. Such was the case of Noah, whose faith
secured the exemption of himself and all his family
from the flood. Such, hypothetically, was the case of
Lot, whose whole family would have been preserved
from the fire and brimstone, if only they had received his
warning and left Sodom with him. On the other hand,
there were cases, like that of Korah in the wilderness,
and of Achan, near this very place, Jericho, where the
sin of the father involved the death of the whole family.
In the case of Rahab, we find a family saved, not
through the faith of the head of the house, but of a
member of it, and that member a woman. The head
of a Hebrew house was eminently a representative man,
and by a well-understood and recognised law his family
were implicated in his acts, whether for good or for evil.
But in this case the protector of the family, the member
of it that determines the fate of the whole, is not the
one whom the law recognises, but his child, his daughter.
A woman occupies here a higher and more influential
At a very early period in the history of the Christian
Church, the great influence of godly women on the
welfare of their male relations began to be seen. About
the fourth century we can hardly peruse the biography
of any eminent Christian father, without being struck
with the share which the prayers and efforts of some
pious female relative had in his conversion. Monica,
the mother of Augustine, is held in reverence all over
Christendom for her tears and wrestling prayers on
behalf of her son; and the name of Anthusa, the mother
of Chrysostom, is hardly less venerable. Nonna, the
mother of Gregory Nazianzen; Macrina and Emmelia,
the mother and the grandmother of Basil the Great and
Gregory of Nyssa, as well as their sister, also called
Macrina; Theosebia too, the wife of Gregory, and
Marallina, the sister of Ambrose, all share a similar
renown. And in more recent times, how many are
the cases where sisters and daughters have exercised
a blessed influence on brothers and fathers! Every
right-hearted sister has a peculiarly warm and tender
interest in the welfare of her brothers. It is a feeling
not to be neglected, but carefully nursed and deepened.
This narrative shows it to be in the line of God's
providence that sisters and daughters shall prove
instruments of deliverance to their relations. It is
blessed when they are so even in earthly things, but
It can hardly be necessary to dwell at length on
the commentary which we find in the Epistle of James
on the faith of Rahab. For it is not so much anything
personal to her that he handles, but an important
quality of all true faith, and of her faith as being true.
"Was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when
she had received the messengers, and had sent them
out another way?" No intelligent person needs to
be told that the view of justification here given is in
no wise at variance with that of St. Paul. Paul's
doctrine was propounded in the early years of the
Church, when, in opposition to the notion prevalent
among the Gentiles, it was necessary to show clearly
that there was no justifying merit in works. The
doctrine of James was propounded at a later period,
when men, presuming on free grace, were beginning to
get lax in their practice, and it was necessary to insist
that faith could not be true faith if it was not accompanied
by corresponding works. The case of Rahab
is employed by St. James to illustrate this latter
position. If Rahab had merely professed belief in the
God of Israel as the only true God, and in the certainty
that Israel would possess the land, according to God's
promise, her faith would have been a barren or dead
faith; in other words, it would have been no true faith
at all. It was her taking up the cause of the spies,
protecting them, endangering her life for them, and
then devising and executing a scheme for their safety,
that showed her faith to be living, and therefore real.
Let it be true that faith is only the instrument of justification,
that it possesses no merit, and that its value
But let us now advert to the reception of Rahab
into the nation and church of the Israelites. "They
brought out all her kindred, and left them without the
camp of Israel.... And Joshua saved Rahab the
harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that
she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this
day; because she hid the messengers which Joshua
sent to spy out Jericho." First, they left them without
the camp. At first they could be treated only as
unclean until the rites of purification should be performed.
In the case of Rahab this was doubly necessary—owing
to her race, and owing to her life. Thereafter
they were admitted to the commonwealth of Israel,
and had an interest in the covenants of promise. The
ceremonial purification and the formal admission signified
little, except in so far as they represented the
washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy
Ghost. Whether this vital change took place we are
not told, but we seem justified in inferring it both from
what we read in Hebrews and from the fact that Rahab
was one of the ancestors of our Lord. It is interesting
and instructive to think of her as exemplifying that
law of grace by which the door of heaven is flung open
even to the vilest sinner. "Where sin abounded
grace did much more abound." When the enemy
ensnares a woman, wiles her into the filthiest chambers
of sin, and so enchains her there that she cannot escape,
but must sink deeper and deeper in the mire, the case
Ten thousand times has this truth been illustrated in
evangelistic addresses, in sermons, and in tracts innumerable
from the case of the prodigal son. And what
imagination can estimate the good which that parable
has done? In this point of view it is strange that little
use has been made of an Old Testament passage, in
which the same truth is unfolded with touching beauty
from the case of a faithless woman. We refer to the
second chapter of Hosea. It is the case of a guilty
and apparently shameless wife. Impelled by greed,
meanest of all motives, she has gone after this lover
We wonder whether Rahab obtained much help in
her new life from the fellowship of those among whom
she came when she joined the Church. If the Church
then was what the Church ever ought to be, if its outstanding
members were like the three fair damsels,
Prudence, Piety and Charity, in the Palace Beautiful,
no doubt she would be helped greatly. But it is not
very often that that emblem is realized. And strange
to say, among the members of our Churches now, we
usually find a very imperfect sense of the duty which
they owe to those who come among them from without,
and especially out of great wickedness. It is quite
possible that Rahab was chilled by the coldness of
some of her Hebrew sisters, looking on her as an
But, however she may have been affected by the
spirit of those among whom she came, Rahab undoubtedly
attained to a good degree before God, and
a place of high honour in the Hebrew community. It
was well for her that what at first arrested and impressed
her was not anything in the people of Israel;
it was the glorious attributes of their God. For this
would preserve her substantially from disappointment.
Men might change, or they might pass away, but God
remained the same yesterday and to-day and for ever.
If she kept looking to Him, admiring His grace and
power, and drawing from His inexhaustible fulness,
Joshua vii.
Not often so violently, but often as really, progress
is arrested in many a good enterprise that seemed to
be prospering to a wish. There may be no shock, but
there is a stoppage of movement. The vital force that
seemed to be carrying it on towards the desired
consummation declines, and the work hangs fire. A
mission that in its first stages was working out a
beautiful transformation, becomes languid and advances
no further. A Church, eminent for its zeal and spirituality,
comes down to the ordinary level, and seems to
lose its power. A family that promised well in infancy
and childhood fails of its promise, its sons and daughters
waver and fall. A similar result is often found in the
undertakings of common life. Something mysterious
In all such cases we naturally wonder what can be the cause. And very often our explanation is wide of the mark. In religious enterprises, we are apt to fall back on the sovereignty and inscrutability of God. "He moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform." It seems good to Him, for unknown purposes of His own, to subject us to disappointment and trial. We do not impugn either His wisdom or His goodness; all is for the best. But, for the most part, we fail to detect the real reason. That the fault should lie with ourselves is the last thing we think of. We search for it in every direction rather than at home. We are ingenious in devising far-off theories and explanations, while the real offender is close at hand—"Israel hath sinned."
It was an unexpected obstacle of this kind that
Joshua now encountered in his next step towards
possessing the land. Let us endeavour to understand
his position and his plan. Jericho lay in the valley
of the Jordan, and its destruction secured nothing for
Joshua save the possession of that low-lying valley.
From the west side of the valley rose a high mountain
wall, which had to be ascended in order to reach the
plateau of Western Palestine. Various ravines or passes
ran down from the plateau into the valley; at the top
of one of these, a little to the north of Jericho, was
Bethel, and farther down the pass, nearer the plain, the
town or village of Ai. No remains of Ai are now visible,
nor is there any tradition of the name, so that its exact
position cannot be ascertained. It was an insignificant
place, but necessary to be taken, in order to give
Hitherto Joshua had been eminently successful, and his people too. Not a hitch had occurred in all the arrangements. The capture of Jericho had been an unqualified triumph. It seemed as if the people of Ai could hardly fail to be paralysed by its fate. After reconnoitring Ai, Joshua saw that there was no need for mustering the whole host against so poor a place—a detachment of two or three thousand would be enough. The three thousand went up against it as confidently as if success were already in their hands. It was probably a surprise to find its people making any attempt to drive them off. The men of Israel were not prepared for a vigorous onslaught, and when it came thus unexpectedly they were taken aback and fled in confusion. As the men of Ai pursued them down the pass, they had no power to rally or retrieve the battle; the rout was complete, some of the men were killed, while consternation was carried into the host, and their whole enterprise seemed doomed to failure.
And now for the first time Joshua appears in a somewhat
Now it is God's turn to speak. "Get thee up;
Then comes the true explanation—"Israel hath
sinned." Might you not have divined that this was
the real cause of your trouble? Is not sin directly or
indirectly the cause of all trouble? What was it that
broke up the joy and peace of Paradise? Sin. What
brought the flood of waters over the face of the earth to
destroy it? Sin. What caused the confusion of Babel
and scattered the inhabitants over the earth in hostile
races? Sin. What brought desolation on that very
plain of Jordan, and buried its cities and its people
under an avalanche of fire and brimstone? Sin. What
caused the defeat of Israel at Hormah forty years ago,
and doomed all the generation to perish in the wilderness?
Sin. What threw down the walls of Jericho
only a few days ago, gave its people to the sword
of Israel, and reduced its homes and its bulwarks to
the mass of ruins you see there? Again, sin. Can you
not read the plainest lesson? Can you not divine that
this trouble which has come on you is due to the same
cause with all the rest? And if it be a first principle
"Behold, the Lord's ear is not heavy that it cannot hear, nor His arm shortened that it cannot save. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God." What a curse that sin is, in ways and forms, too, which we do not suspect! And yet we are usually so very careless about it. How little pains we take to ascertain its presence, or to drive it away from among us! How little tenderness of conscience we show, how little burning desire to be kept from the accursed thing! And when we turn to our opponents and see sin in them, instead of being grieved, we fall on them savagely to upbraid them, and we hold them up to open scorn. How little we think if they are guilty, that their sin has intercepted the favour of God, and involved not them only, but probably the whole community in trouble! How unsatisfactory to God must seem the bearing even of the best of us in reference to sin! Do we really think of it as the object of God's abhorrence? As that which destroyed Paradise, as that which has covered the earth with lamentation and mourning and woe, kindled the flames of hell, and brought the Son of God to suffer on the cross? If only we had some adequate sense of sin, should we not be constantly making it our prayer—"Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting"?
The peculiar covenant relation in which Israel stood
But before passing on to the result of the scrutiny, we find ourselves face to face with a difficult question. If, as is here intimated, it was one man that sinned, why should the whole nation have been dealt with as guilty? Why should the historian, in the very first verse of this chapter, summarise the transaction by saying: "But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the devoted thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the devoted thing; and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel"? Why visit the offence of Achan on the whole congregation, causing a peculiarly humiliating defeat to take place before an insignificant enemy, demoralizing the whole host, driving Joshua to distraction, and causing the death of six-and-thirty men?
In dealing with a question of this sort, it is indispensable that we station ourselves at that period of the world's history; we must place before our minds some of the ideas that were prevalent at the time, and abstain from judging of what was done then by a standard which is applicable only to our own day.
And certain it is that, what we now call the solidarity of
mankind, the tendency to look on men rather as the members
of a community than as independent individuals,
each with an inalienable standing of his own, had a hold
of men's minds then such as it has not to-day, certainly
among Western nations. To a certain extent, this See Mozley's "Ruling Ideas in the Early Ages," p. 40.
We are to remember that practically the principle
of solidarity was fully admitted in Joshua's time
among his people. The sense of injustice and hardship
to which it might give rise among us did not
exist. Men recognised it as a law of wide influence
in human affairs, to which they were bound to defer.
Let us think of Achan's temptation. A large amount of valuable property fell into the hands of the Israelites at Jericho. By a rigorous law, all was devoted to the service of God. Now a covetous man like Achan might find many plausible reasons for evading this law. "What I take to myself (he might say) will never be missed. There are hundreds of Babylonish garments, there are many wedges of gold, and silver shekels without number, amply sufficient for the purpose for which they are devoted. If I were to deprive another man of his rightful share, I should be acting very wickedly; but I am really doing nothing of the kind. I am only diminishing imperceptibly what is to be used for a public purpose. Nobody will suffer a whit by what I do,—it cannot be very wrong."
Now the great lesson taught very solemnly and
impressively to the whole nation was, that this was
just awfully wrong. The moral benefit which the
nation ultimately got from the transaction was, that
That sin is to be held sinful only when it hurts your
fellow-creatures, and especially the poor among your
fellow-creatures, is a very common impression, but
surely it is a delusion of the devil. That it has such
effects may be a gross aggravation of the wickedness,
but it is not the heart and core of it. And how can you
know that it will not hurt others? Not hurt your fellow-countrymen,
Achan? Why, that secret sin of yours has
caused the death of thirty-six men, and a humiliating
defeat of the troops before Ai. More than that, it
has separated between the nation and God. Many
say, when they tell a lie, it was not a malignant lie, it
was a lie told to screen some one, not to expose him,
therefore it was harmless. But you cannot trace the
consequences of that lie, any more than Achan could
trace the consequences of his theft, otherwise you would
not dare to make that excuse. Many that would not
steal from a poor man, or waste a poor man's substance,
have little scruple in wasting a rich man's substance,
or in peculating from Government property. Who can
measure the evil that flows from such ways of trifling
with the inexorable law of right, the damage done to
conscience, and the guilt contracted before God? Is
there safety for man or woman except in the most rigid
How well fitted for us, especially when we are exposed to temptation, is that prayer of the psalmist: "Who can understand his errors? cleanse Thou me from secret faults. Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be perfect, and I shall be clear of great transgression."
Joshua vii.
When Achan heard of the muster that was to take place next morning, in order to detect the offender, he must have spent a miserable night. Between the consciousness of guilt, the sense of the mischief he had done, the dread of detection, and the foreboding of retribution, his nerves were too much shaken to admit the possibility of sleep. Weariedly and anxiously he must have tossed about as the hours slowly revolved, unable to get rid of his miserable thoughts, which would ever keep swimming about him like the changing forms of a kaleidoscope, but with the same dark vision of coming doom.
At length the day dawns, the tribes muster, the
Joshua's heart is overcome, and he deals gently with
the young man. "My son, give, I pray thee, glory to
the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto Him;
and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from
me." There was infinite kindness in that word "my
son." It reminds us of that other Joshua, the Jesus of
the New Testament, so tender to sinners, so full of love
even for those who had been steeped in guilt. It brings
before us the Great High Priest, who is touched with the
feeling of our infirmities, seeing He was in all things
tempted like as we are, yet without sin. A harsh word
from Joshua might have set Achan in a defiant attitude,
and drawn from him a denial that he had done anything
But not only did Joshua speak kindly to Achan, he confronted him with God, and called on him to think how He was concerned in this matter. "Give glory to the Lord God of Israel." Vindicate Him from the charge which I and others have virtually been bringing against Him, of proving forgetful of His covenant. Clear Him of all blame, declare His glory, declare that He is unsullied in His perfections, and show that He has had good cause to leave us to the mercy of our enemies. No man as yet knew what Achan had done. He might have been guilty of some act of idolatry, or of some unhallowed sensuality like that which had lately taken place at Baal-peor; in order that the transaction might carry its lesson, it was necessary that the precise offence should be known. Joshua's kindly address and his solemn appeal to Achan to clear the character of God had the desired effect. "Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: when I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it."
The confession certainly was frank and full; but
whether it was made in the spirit of true contrition,
Certain it is that Joshua earnestly desired to lead
Achan to deal with God in the matter. "Make confession,"
he said, "unto Him." He knew the virtue of
confession to God. For "he that covereth his sins
shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh
them shall have mercy" (
It is a further presumption that Achan was a true penitent, that he told so frankly where the various articles that he had appropriated were to be found. "Behold, they are hid in the midst of my tent." They were scalding his conscience so fearfully that he could not rest till they were taken away from the abode which they polluted and cursed. They seemed to be crying out against him and his with a voice which could not be silenced. To bring them away and expose them to public view might bring no relaxation of the doom which he expected, but it would be a relief to his feelings if they were dragged from the hiding hole to which he had so wickedly consigned them. For the articles were now as hateful to him as formerly they had been splendid and delightful. The curse of God was on them now, and on him too on their account. Is there anything darker or deadlier than the curse of God?
And now the consummation arrives. Messengers
are sent to his tent, they find the stolen goods, they
bring them to Joshua, and to all the children of Israel,
and they lay them out before the Lord. We are not
It seems a terrible punishment, but Achan had already
brought defeat and disgrace on his countrymen, he
had robbed God, and brought the whole community to
the brink of ruin. It must have been a strong lust
that led him to play with such consequences. What
sin is there to which covetousness has not impelled
men? And, strange to say, it is a sin which has
received but little check from all the sad experience of
the past. Is it not as daring as ever to-day? Is it
not the parent of that gambling habit which is the
terror of all good men, sapping our morality and our
industry, and disposing tens of thousands to trust to
the bare chance of an unlikely contingency, rather than
to God's blessing on honest industry? Is it not sheer
covetousness that turns the confidential clerk into a
robber of his employer, and uses all the devices of
cunning to discover how long he can carry on his
infamous plot, till the inevitable day of detection arrive
and he must fly, a fugitive and a vagabond, to a foreign
Achan's sin has found him out, and he suffers its
bitter doom. All his visions of comfort and enjoyment
to be derived from his unlawful gain are rudely shattered.
The pictures he has been drawing of what he will do
with the silver and the gold and the garment are for
ever dispersed. He has brought disaster on the nation,
and shame and ruin on himself and his house. In all
coming time, he must stand in the pillory of history
Nevertheless, the hand of God is seen here. The punishment of sin is one of the inexorable conditions of His government. It may look dark and ugly to us, but it is there. It may create a very different feeling from the contemplation of His love and goodness, but in our present condition that feeling is wholesome and necessary. As we follow unpardoned sinners into the future world, it may be awful, it may be dismal to think of a state from which punishment will never be absent; but the awfulness and the dismalness will not change the fact. It is the mystery of God's character that He is at once infinite love and infinite righteousness. And if it be unlawful for us to exclude His love and dwell only on His justice, it is equally unlawful to exclude His justice and dwell only on His love. Now, as of old, His memorial is, "The Lord, the Lord God merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty."
But if it be awful to contemplate the death, and the
mode of death of Achan, how much more when we
think that his wife and his sons and his daughters were
stoned to death along with him! Would that not have
been a barbarous deed in any case, and was it not much
more so if they were wholly innocent of his offence?
But it is in vain to fight against so apparent a fact.
Much wiser surely it is to take the view of the Apostle
Paul, and rejoice that, under the economy of the gospel,
the principle of imputation becomes the source of blessing
infinitely greater than the evil which it brought
Very special mention is made of the place where the
execution of Achan and his family took place. "They
brought them unto the valley of Achor, ... and they
raised over him a great heap of stones, ... wherefore
the name of that place is called, The valley of Achor,
unto this day." Achor, which means trouble, seems to
have been a small ravine near the lower part of the
valley in which Ai was situated, and therefore near the
scene of the disaster that befell the Israelites. It was
No man can tell all the "trouble" that has come into the world by reason of sin. As little can we know the full extent of that deliverance that shall take place when sin comes to an end. If we would know anything of this we must go to those passages which picture to us the new heavens and the new earth: "In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him: and they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever."
Joshua viii. 1-29.
Virtually the command to Joshua is to "try again." Success, though denied to the first effort, often comes to the next, or at least to a subsequent one. Even apart from spiritual considerations, it is those who try oftenest who succeed best. There is little good in a man who abandons an undertaking simply because he has tried once and failed. Who does not recall in this connection the story of Alfred the Great? Or of Robert the Bruce watching the spider in the barn that at last reached the roof after sixteen failures? Or, looking to what has a more immediate bearing on the kingdom of God, who has not admired the perseverance of Livingstone, undaunted by fever and famine, and the ferocity of savage chiefs; unmoved by his longings for home and dreams of plenty and comfort that mocked him when he awoke to physical wretchedness and want? Such perseverance gives a man the stamp of true nobility; we are almost tempted to fall down and worship. If failure be humiliating, it is redeemed by the very act and attitude of perseverance, and the self-denial and scorn of ease which it involves. In the Christian warfare no man is promised victory at the first. "Let us not be weary in welldoing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not."
To Christian men especially, failure brings very
valuable lessons. There is always something to be
learned from it. In our first attempt we were too self-confident.
We went too carelessly about the matter,
In the case of Joshua and his people, one of the chief
lessons derived from their failure before Ai was the
evil of covering sin. Alas, this policy is the cause of
failures innumerable in the spiritual life! In numberless
Joshua is instructed to go up again against Ai, but
in order to interest and encourage the people, he
resorts to a new plan of attack. A stratagem is to be
put in operation. An ambuscade is to be stationed on
the west side of the city, while the main body of the
assaulting force is to approach it, as formerly, from the
east. There is some obscurity and apparent confusion
in the narrative, confined, however, to one point, the
number composing the ambuscade and the main body
respectively. Some error in the text appears to have
crept in. From the statement in ver. 3 we might
suppose that the men who were to lie in ambush
amounted to thirty thousand; but in ver. 12 it is
expressly stated that only five thousand were employed
in this way. There can be little doubt (though it is
not according to the letter of the narrative) that the
whole force employed amounted to thirty thousand,
The ruse was that the ambush should be concealed behind the city; that Ai, as before, should be attacked from the east by the main body of troops; that on receiving the onslaught from the city they should seem to be defeated as before; that Joshua, probably standing on some commanding height, should give a signal to the men in ambush by raising his spear; whereupon these men should rush down on the now deserted place and set it on fire. On seeing the flames, the pursuers would naturally turn and rush back to extinguish them; then the main body of Israel would turn likewise, and thus the enemy would be caught as in a trap from which there was no escape, and fall a victim to the two sections of Israel.
To plots of this kind, the main objection in a strategical
sense lies in the risk of detection. For the five
thousand who went to station themselves in the west
it was a somewhat perilous thing to separate themselves
from the host, and place themselves in the heart of
enemies both in front and in rear. It needed strong
faith to expose themselves in such a situation. Suppose
they had been detected as they went stealing along
The plot was entirely successful; everything fell out
precisely as Joshua had desired. A terrible slaughter
of the men of Ai took place, caught as they were on
the east of the city between the two sections of Joshua's
troops, for the Israelites gave no quarter either to age
or sex. The whole number of the slain amounted to
twelve thousand, and that probably included the people
of Bethel too. We see from this what an insignificant
place Ai must have been, and how very humiliating was
the defeat it inflicted at first. With reference to the
spoil of the city, the rigid law prescribed at Jericho was
not repeated; the people got it for themselves. Jericho
was an exceptional case; it was the firstfruits of the
conquest, therefore holy to the Lord. If Achan had
but waited a little, he would have had his share of the
spoil of Ai or some other place. He would have got
legitimately what he purloined unlawfully. In the
slaughter, the king, or chief of the place, suffered a more
ignominious doom than his soldiers; instead of being
slain with the sword, he was hanged, and his body was
exposed on a tree till sunset. Joshua did not want
We see that already light begins to be thrown on
what at the time must have seemed the very severe and
rigid order about the spoil of Jericho. Although Achan
was the only offender, he was probably far from being
the only complainer on that occasion. Many another
Israelite with a covetous heart must have felt bitterly
that it was very hard to be prevented from taking even
an atom to oneself. "Were not our fathers allowed
to spoil the Egyptians—why, then, should we be absolutely
prevented from having a share of the spoil of
Jericho?" It might have been enough to answer that
God claimed the firstfruits of the land for Himself. Or
to say that God designed at the very entrance of His
people into Canaan to show that they were not a tumultuous
rabble, rushing greedily on all they could lay
their hands on, but a well-trained, well-mannered family,
in whom self-restraint was one of the noblest virtues.
But to all this it might have been added, that the
people's day was not far off. It is not God's method to
muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And so to
all who rush tumultuously upon the good things of this
life, He says, "Seek first the kingdom of heaven and
His righteousness, and all these things shall be added
unto you." Let God arrange the order in which His
gifts are distributed. Never hurry Providence, as Sarah
did when she gave Hagar to Abraham. Sarah had
good cause to repent of her impetuosity; it brought her
many a bitter hour. Whereas God was really kinder
A question has been raised respecting the legitimacy
of the stratagem employed by Joshua in order to capture
Ai. Was it right to deceive the people; to pretend
to be defeated while in reality he was only executing
a ruse, and thus draw on the poor men of Ai to a
terrible death? Calvin and other commentators make
short work of this objection. If war is lawful, stratagem
is lawful. Stratagem indeed, as war used to be conducted,
was a principal part of it; and even now the
term "strategic," derived from it, is often used to
denote operations designed for a different purpose
from that which at first appears. It is needless to discuss
here the lawfulness of war, for the Israelites were
waging war at the express command of the Almighty.
And if it be said that when once you allow the principle
that it is lawful in war to mislead the enemy, you
virtually allow perfidy, inasmuch as it would be lawful
for you, after pledging your word under a flag of truce,
to disregard your promise, the answer to that is, that
to mislead in such circumstances would be infamous.
A distinction is to be drawn between acts where the
enemy has no right to expect that you will make known
your intention, and acts where they have such a right.
In the ordinary run of strategic movements, you are
under no obligation to tell the foe what you are about. It
is part of their business to watch you, to scrutinize your
every movement, and in spite of appearances to divine
your real purpose. If they are too careless to watch,
or too stupid to discern between a professed and a real
plan, they must bear the consequences. But when a
flag of truce is displayed, when a meeting takes place
under its protection, and when conditions are agreed to
Thus far we may defend the usages of war; but at
best it is a barbarous mode of operations. Very
memorable was the observation of the Duke of Wellington,
that next to the calamity of suffering a defeat was
that of gaining a victory. To look over a great battle-field,
fresh from the clash of arms; to survey the
trampled crops, the ruined houses, the universal desolation;
to gaze on all the manly forms lying cold in death,
and the many besides wounded, bleeding, groaning,
perhaps dying; to think of the illimitable treasure that
has been lavished on this work of destruction and the
comforts of which it has robbed the countries engaged;
to remember in what a multitude of cases, death must
carry desolation and anguish to the poor widow, and
turn the remainder of life into a lonely pilgrimage, is
enough surely to rob war of the glory associated with
it, and to make good the position that on the part of
civilized and Christian men it should only be the last
desperate resort, after every other means of effecting
its object has failed. We are not forgetful of the manly
self-sacrifice of those who expose themselves so readily to
the risk of mutilation and death, wherever the rulers of
their country require it, for it is the redeeming feature
of war that it brings out so much of this high patriotic
devotion; but surely they are right who deem arbitration
the better method of settling national differences;
who call for a great disarmament of the European
One lesson comes to us with pre-eminent force from
the operations of war. The activity displayed by every
good commander is a splendid example for all of us in
spiritual warfare. "Joshua arose"; "Joshua lodged
that night among the people"; "Joshua rose up
early in the morning"; "Joshua went that night into
the middle of the valley"; "Joshua drew not his hand
back wherewith he stretched out the spear, until he
had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai." Such
expressions show how intensely in earnest he was, how
unsparing of himself, how vigilant and indefatigable in
all that bore upon his enterprise. And generally we
still see that, wherever military expeditions are undertaken,
they are pushed forward with untiring energy,
and the sinews of war are supplied in unstinted abundance,
whatever grumbling there may be afterwards
when the bill comes to be paid. Has the Christian
Church ever girded herself for the great enterprise of
conquering the world for Christ with the same zeal
and determination? What are all the sums of money
contributed for Christian missions, compared to those
Joshua viii. 30-35.
Some have thought that no record has been preserved of one of Joshua's great campaigns, the campaign in which he subdued the central part of the country. A good deal may be said for this supposition. In the list of the thirty-one kings whom he subdued over the country (chap. xii.) we find several whose dominions were in this region. For instance, we know that Aphek, Taanach, and Megiddo were all situated in the central part of the country, and probably other cities too. Yet, while the fact is recorded that they were defeated, no mention is made of any expedition against them. They belonged neither to the confederacy of Adonizedec in the south nor to that of Jabin in the north, and they must have been subdued on some separate occasion. It is just possible that Joshua defeated them before encountering the confederacy of Adonizedec at Gibeon and Bethhoron. But it is far more likely that it was after that victory that he advanced to the central part of the country.
On the whole, while admitting the perplexity of the
question, we incline to the belief that the passage has
been transferred from its original place. This in no
way invalidates the authority of the book, or of the
passage, for in the most undoubtedly authentic books
of Scripture we have instances beyond question—very
It has been said that the passage in Deuteronomy
(xxvii. 4-19) could not have been written by Moses,
because he had never set foot in Canaan, and therefore
could not have been acquainted with the names or the
locality of Ebal and Gerizim. On the contrary, we
believe that he had very good reason to be acquainted
with both. For at the foot of Ebal lay the portion
of ground which Jacob gave to his son Joseph, and
where both Jacob's well and Joseph's tomb are pointed
out at the present day. That piece of ground must
have been familiar to Jacob, and carefully described to
Joseph by its great natural features when he made
it over to him. And as Joseph regarded it as his
destined burial-place, the tradition of its situation must
have been carefully transmitted to those that came
after him, when he gave commandment concerning his
bones. Joseph was not the oldest son of Jacob, any
more than Rachel was his oldest wife, and for these
reasons neither of them was buried in the cave of
Machpelah. Moses therefore had good reasons for
being acquainted with the locality. Probably it was at
the time of the ceremony at Ebal that the bones of Joseph
were buried, although the fact is not recorded till the
very end of the book (
It was a most fitting thing that when he had completed
the conquest of the country, Joshua should set
about performing that great national ceremony, designed
to rivet on the people's hearts the claims of God's law
and covenant, which had been enjoined by Moses to
be performed in the valley of Shechem. For though
Joshua was neither priest nor prophet, yet as a warm
When therefore Joshua conducted his people to the
Mounts Ebal and Gerizim, in order that they might
have the obligations of the law set before them in a
form as impressive as it was picturesque, he was not
merely fulfilling mechanically an injunction of Moses,
but performing a transaction into which he himself
entered heart and soul. And when the writer of the
book records the transaction, it is not merely for the
purpose of showing us how certain acts prescribed in
a previous book were actually performed, but for the
purpose of perpetuating an occurrence which in the
whole future history of the nation would prove either
a continual inspiration for good, or a testimony against
them, so that out of their own life they should be
condemned. Knowing Joshua as we do, we can easily
believe that all along it was one of his most cherished
projects to implement the legacy of Moses and superintend
this memorable covenanting act. It must have
been a great relief from the bloody scenes and awful
experiences of war to assemble his people among the
mountains, and engage them in a service which was
so much more in harmony with the beauty and sublimity
of nature. No critic or writer who has any sense of
the fitness of things can coolly remove this transaction
from the sphere of history into that of fancy, or deprive
It could not be without thrilling hearts that Joshua
and all of his people who were like-minded entered the
beautiful valley of Shechem, which had been the first
resting-place in Canaan of their father Abraham, the
first place where God appeared to him, and the first
place where "he builded an altar unto the Lord"
(
If the host of Israel approached Ebal and Gerizim
from the south, they would pass along the central ridge
or plateau of the country till they reached the vale of
Shechem, where the mountain range would appear as
if it had been cleft from top to bottom by some great
convulsion of nature. Then, as now, the country was
studded thickly with villages, the plains clothed with
grass and grain, and the rounded hills with orchards of
The ceremony here under Joshua was twofold: first, the rearing of an altar; and second, the proclamation of the law.
1. The altar, as enjoined in
Moreover, we read in Joshua, that "he wrote there
upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which
he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel."
There is sufficient difference between the passages in
Deuteronomy and Joshua to show that the one was
not copied from the other. From Joshua we might
suppose that it was on the stones of the altar that
Joshua wrote, and there is no reference to the command
given in Deuteronomy to plaister the stones with
plaister. But from Deuteronomy it is plain that it
was not the stones of the altar that were plaistered
over, but memorial stones set up for the purpose.
There has been no little controversy as to the manner
in which this injunction was carried out. According
to Dr. Thomson, in the "Land and the Book," the
matter is very simple. The difficulty in the eyes of
commentators has arisen from the idea that plaister is
altogether too soft a substance to retain the impression
of what is written on it. This Dr. Thomson wholly
disputes: "A careful examination of
Joshua could not have written the whole of the law
on his pillars; it was probably only the ten commandments.
As we shall see, another arrangement was
made for the rehearsal of the whole law; it was solemnly
read out afterwards. But now the entire nation, with
all the strangers and followers, took up their position
in the valley between the two mountains. Half of
the tribes separated from the rest to the slopes of
Gerizim, and the other half to those of Ebal. From
Deuteronomy we gather that those who were grouped
on Gerizim were far the more important and numerous
tribes. They embraced Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar,
Joseph, and Benjamin. On Mount Ebal were stationed
Reuben, Gad and Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali.
The priests stood between, and read out blessings and
curses. When blessings were read out the tribes on
Gerizim shouted Amen. When curses were read out
those on Ebal did the same. Let us imagine the scene.
A mountain side covered with people is always a picturesque
Very explicit mention is made of the fact that "there was not a word of all that Moses commanded which Joshua read not before all the congregation of the children of Israel, with the women and the little ones and the strangers that were conversant among them." This obviously implies that the law of Moses was in definite form, and that the reading of it took up a considerable portion of time.
The order of events had been very significant. First,
a great work of destruction—the dispossession of the
Canaanites. Next, the erection of an altar, and the
offering up of sacrifices. And, lastly, the inscribing and
proclamation of the law. "The surgeon has done his
duty, and now nature will proceed to heal and comfort
and bless. The enemy has been driven off the field.
Now the altar is put up and the law is promulgated.
Society without law is chaos. An altar without righteousness "The People's Bible," by Joseph Parker, D.D.
If the conjecture that this passage originally occupied a later place in the book be correct, the army was now about to be disbanded, and the people were about to be settled in homes of their own. It was a momentous crisis. They were about to lose, in a great degree, the influence of union, and the presence of men like Joshua and the godly elders, whose noble example and stirring words had ever been a power for what was good and true. Scattered over the land, they would now be more at the control of their own hearts, and often of what in them was least noble and least godly. On the part of Joshua, everything had been done, by this solemn gathering, to secure that they should separate with the remembrance of God's mighty works on their behalf filling their hearts, and the words of God's law ringing in their ears.
Joshua ix.
There was one native community, however, that
determined to follow another course. The Gibeonites
were a branch of the Hivite race, inhabiting the town
of Gibeon, and some other prominent towns in the great
central plateau of the country. Gibeon is undoubtedly
represented now by the village of El Jib, situated about
half-way between Jerusalem and Bethel, four or five
miles distant from each. Dr. Robertson describes
El Jib as situated in a beautiful plain of considerable
extent, on an oblong hill or ridge, composed of layers
of limestone, rising as if by regular steps out of the
plain. In the days of Joshua, it was a place of great
importance, a royal city, and it had under its jurisdiction
the towns of Beeroth, Chephirah, and Kirjath-jearim.
Its inhabitants were in no humour to fight with Joshua.
They had faith enough to understand what would be the
inevitable result of that, and therein they were right,
and the confederate kings were wrong. On the other
hand, they were not prepared to make an honest and
unconditional surrender. They probably knew that
It was just the completeness of the disguise that threw Joshua and the men of Israel on their guard. For at first the idea did occur to them that the strangers might be neighbours, and therefore of the nations that they were called on to destroy. On closer inspection, however, that seemed out of the question; indeed, the supposition was so utterly preposterous that it was deemed hardly fitting to bring the matter before the Lord. It is as plain as day, Joshua and the elders would reason; the evidence of what they say is beyond question; theirs is no case of perplexity requiring us to go to God; we may surely exercise our common sense and make a league with these far-travelled men. In a short time they will be back in their own country, far beyond our boundaries, and the only effect of their visit and of our league will be a fresh tribute to the name and power of Jehovah, a fresh testimony to His presence with us, and a fresh pledge that He will bear us to success in the enterprise in which we are engaged. And when the confederate kings that are now leaguing against us hear that this distant people have come to us to propitiate our favour, they will be struck by a new terror and will be the more easily subdued.
We see in all this the simple, unsuspecting spirit of
men who have spent their lives in the wilderness. As
for the Gibeonites, there was a combination of good and
bad in their spirit. They remind us in a measure of
the woman with the issue of blood. In her there was
certainly faith; but along with the faith, extraordinary
superstition. In the Gibeonites there was faith—a
belief that Israel was under the protection of a remarkable
The conduct of the men was the more strange that it
was impossible that they should not be speedily found
out. And it was quite possible that, when found out,
they would be dealt with more severely than ever.
True, indeed, Joshua, when he did detect their plot, did
not so act; he acted on a high, perhaps a mistaken
sense of honour; but they had no right to count on
that. Timidity is a poor adviser. All it can do is to
turn the next corner. True faith, resting on eternal
"A lying tongue is but for a moment;" and the Gibeonite fraud lived just three days. Then it was discovered by Joshua that the Gibeonites lived in the immediate neighbourhood. But before that, he had made peace with them, and entered into a league to let them live, and the princes of the congregation had confirmed it by an oath. Nothing could have been more provoking than to discover that they had been duped and swindled. It is always a very bitter experience to find that our confidence has been misplaced. Men whom we thought trustworthy, and whom we commended to others as trustworthy, have turned out knaves. It is hard to bear, for we have committed ourselves to our friends in the matter. What would Joshua and his people think now of the supposed tribute to the God of Israel, and the impression expected to be made on the confederate kings? Before all the inhabitants of Canaan he and his people were befooled, humiliated. Not a man in all the country but would be making merry at their expense. Yet even that was not the worst of it. They had been guilty of over-confidence, and of neglect of means that were in their hands; they had neglected to get counsel of their God. They had trusted in their own hearts when they ought to have sought guidance from above. The trouble was their own creation; they were alone to blame.
We cannot but respect the way in which Joshua and
But though the lives of the Gibeonites were spared,
that was all. They were to be reduced to a kind of
slavery—to be "hewers of wood and drawers of water
for the congregation and the altar of God." The
expression has become a household word to denote a
life of drudgery, but perhaps we fail to recognise the full
significance of the terms. "I was forcibly reminded of
this," says the author of "The Land and the Book,"
"by long files of women and children (near El Jib)
carrying on their heads heavy bundles of wood....
Respecting the after history of Gibeon and the
Gibeonites we find some notices in the Old Testament,
but none in the New. At one time there was a sanctuary
at Gibeon, even after the ark had been removed
to Mount Zion; for it was at Gibeon that Solomon
offered his great sacrifice of a thousand burnt offerings,
and had that remarkable dream in which, in reply to
the Divine offer of a choice of gifts, he chose wisdom
in preference to any other (
Does anything resembling this fraud of the Gibeonites
ever take place among ourselves? In answer, let us
ask first of all, what is the meaning of pious frauds?
Are they not transactions where fraud is resorted to
in order to accomplish what are supposed to be religious
ends? Granting that the fraud of the Gibeonites was
not for a religious but for a secular object—their deliverance
from the sword of Joshua—still they professed, in
practising it, to be doing honour to God. It is the part
of superstition at once to lower the intellectual and the
moral attributes of God. It often represents that the
most frivolous acts, the uttering of mysterious words,
And this suggests a wider thought—the fearful
miscalculation men make whensoever they resort to
fraud in the hope of reaping benefit by means of it.
Yet what practice is more common? The question is,
Does it really pay? Does it pay, for instance, to cheat
at cards? Have we not seen recently what swift and
terrible retribution that may bring, making us feel for
the culprit as we might have felt for Cain. Does it pay
the merchant to cheat as to the quality of his goods?
Does it not leak out that he is not to be trusted, and
does not that suspicion lose more to him in the long
run than it gains? Does it pay the preacher to preach
another man's sermon as his own? Or, to vary the
illustration. When one has entrapped a maiden under
All Eastern nations get the character of being deceitful;
but indeed the weed may be said to flourish in
every soil where it has not been rooted out by living
Christianity. But if it be peculiarly characteristic of
Eastern nations, is it not remarkable how constantly it
Joshua x.
The case was very serious for the Gibeonites. As
Gibeon lay so near Jerusalem and the cities of the other
Encouraged by the assurance of Divine protection
and favoured by the moonlight, Joshua, by a marvellous
act of pluck and energy, went up by night, reached
Gibeon in the morning, fell upon the army of the
assembled kings, possibly while it was yet dark, and
utterly discomfited them. It would have been natural
for the routed armies to make for Jerusalem, only five
miles off, by the south road, but either Joshua had
occupied that road, or it was too difficult for a retreat.
The way by which they did retreat, running west from
Gibeon, is carefully described. First they took the way
"that goeth up to Bethhoron." As soon as they had
Thereafter Joshua attacked the chief cities of the confederates,
and took in succession Makkedah, Libnah,
Lachish, Eglon, Hebron, and Debir. Nothing is said
of his taking Jerusalem; indeed it appears from the
after history that the stronghold of Jerusalem on Mount
Zion remained in Jebusite hands up to the time of David.
Many of the inhabitants were able to escape destruction,
but substantially Joshua was now in possession
In all the subsequent history of the country, the victory
of Gibeon was looked back on, and justly, as one of
the most memorable that had ever been known. For
promptitude, dash, and daring it was never eclipsed by
any event of the kind; while the strength of the confederate
army, the completeness of its defeat, and the
picturesqueness of the whole situation constantly supplied
materials for wonder and delight. Moreover, the
hand of God had been conspicuously shown in more
ways than one. The hailstorm that wrought such
havoc was ascribed to His friendly hand, but a far
more memorable token of His interest and support lay
in the miracle that arrested the movements of the sun
and the moon, in order that victorious Israel might have
time to finish his work. And after the victory the
capture of the fortified towns became comparatively
easy. The remnant that had escaped could have no
heart to defend them. Joshua must have smiled at the
fate of the "cities walled up to heaven" that had so
greatly distressed his brother spies when they came up
to examine the land. And as he found them one by
one yield to his army, as though their defence had
really departed from them, he must have felt with fresh
gratitude the faithfulness and lovingkindness of the
Lord, and earnestly breathed the prayer that neither
In some respects this victory has a special significance.
In the first place, it had a most important
bearing on the success of the whole enterprise; its
suddenness, its completeness, its manifold grandeur
being admirably fitted to paralyse the enemy in other
parts of the country, and open the whole region to
Joshua. By some it has been compared to the battle
of Marathon, not only on account of the suddenness
with which the decisive blow was struck, but also on
account of the importance of the interests involved.
It was a battle for freedom, for purity, for true religion,
in opposition to tyranny, idolatry, and abominable
sensuality; for all that is wholesome in human life,
in opposition to all that is corrupt; for all that makes
for peaceful progress, in opposition to all that entails
degradation and misery. The prospects of the whole
world were brighter after that victory of Bethhoron. The
relation of heaven to earth was more auspicious, and
more full of promise for the days to come. Had any
hitch occurred in the arrangements; had Israel halted
half-way up the eastern slopes, and the troops of Adonizedec
driven them back; had the tug of war in the plain
of Gibeon proved too much for them after their toilsome
night march; had no hailstorm broken out on the
retreating enemy; had he been able to form again at
the western foot of the hills and arrest the progress of
Joshua in pursuit, the whole enterprise would have had
a different complexion. No doubt the Divine arm
might have been stretched out for Israel in some other
way; but the remarkable thing was, that no such
supplementary mode of achieving the desired result
was required. At every point the success of Israel was
In the next place, the tokens of Divine aid were very
impressive. After the experience which Joshua had
had of the consequences of failing to ask God for
direction when first the Gibeonites came to him, we
may be very sure that on the present occasion he
would be peculiarly careful to seek Divine counsel.
And he was well rewarded. For "the sun stood still,
and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged
themselves upon their enemies." It does not need to
be said that this miraculous incident has from first to
last given birth to an immensity of perplexity and
discussion. It will be observed that the record of it
does not come in as part of the narrative, but as a
quotation from a pre-existing book. Concerning that
book we know very little. From its name, Jashar,
"The upright," we may believe it to have been a record
of memorable deeds of righteous men. In form it was
poetical, the extract in the present case being of that
rhythmical structure which was the mark of Hebrew
poetry. The only other occasion on which it is
mentioned is in connection with the song composed by
David, after the death of Saul and Jonathan (
Then as to the miracle of the sun and the moon standing still. It is well known that this was one of the passages brought forward by the Church of Rome to condemn Galileo, when he affirmed that the earth and the moon revolved round the sun, and that it was not the motion of the sun round the earth, but the rotation of the earth on her own axis that produced the change of day and night. No one would dream now of making use of this passage for any such purpose. Whatever theory of inspiration men may hold, it is admitted universally that the inspired writers used the popular language of the day in matters of science, and did not anticipate discoveries which were not made till many centuries later. That expressions occur in Scripture which are not in accord with the best established conclusions of modern science would never be regarded by any intelligent person as an argument against the Scriptures as the inspired records of God's will, designed especially to reveal to us the way of life and salvation through Jesus Christ, and to be an infallible guide to us on all that "man is to believe concerning God, and the duty that God requires of man."
A far more serious question has been raised as to
whether this miracle ever occurred, or could have
occurred. To those who believe in the possibility of
miracles, it can be no conclusive argument that it could
not have occurred without producing injurious consequences
the end of which can hardly be conceived. For
if the rotation of the earth on its axis was suddenly
arrested, all human beings on its surface, and all loose
objects whatever must have been flung forward with prodigious
violence; just as, on a small scale, on the sudden
stoppage of a carriage, we find ourselves thrown forward,
the motion of the carriage having been communicated
But was it a miracle? The narrative, as we have
it, implies not only that it was, but that there was
something in it stupendous and unprecedented. It
comes in as a part of that supernatural process in
which God had been engaged ever since the deliverance
of His people from Egypt, and which was to go on till
they should be finally settled in the land. It naturally
joins on to the miraculous division of the Jordan, and
the miraculous fall of the walls of Jericho. We must
remember that the work in which God was now engaged
was one of peculiar spiritual importance and significance.
He was not merely finding a home for His covenant
people; He was making arrangements for advancing
the highest interests of humanity; He was guarding
against the extinction on earth of the Divine light which
alone could guide man in safety through the life that
now is, and in preparation for that which is to come.
He was taking steps to prevent a final and fatal
severance of the relation between God and man, and
He was even preparing the way for a far more complete
and glorious development of that relation—to be seen
in the person of His Incarnate Son, the spiritual
Joshua, and made possible for men through that great
There are commentators worthy of high respect who have thought that the fact of this incident being noticed in the form of a quotation from the Book of Jashar somewhat diminishes the credit due to it. It looks as if it had not formed part of the original narrative, but had been inserted by a subsequent editor from a book of poetry, expressed with poetic licence, and perhaps of later date. They are disposed to regard the words of Joshua, "Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon," as a mere expression of his desire that the light would last long enough to allow the decisive work of the day to be brought to a thorough conclusion. They look on it as akin to the prayer of Agamemnon ("Iliad," ii. 412 sq.) that the sun might not go down till he had sacked Troy; and the form of words they consider to be suited to poetical composition, like some of the expressions in the eighteenth psalm—"There went up a smoke out of His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and did come down: He rode upon a cherub, and did fly."
But whatever allowance we may make for poetical
licence of speech, it is hardly possible not to perceive
that the words as they stand imply a miracle of extraordinary
sublimity; nor do we see any sufficient ground
for resisting the common belief that in whatsoever way It seems hardly necessary to notice an explanation of the phenomenon
that has been made lately—to the effect that it was in the
morning, not the evening of the day, that Joshua expressed his wish.
It was to prevent the allied kings about Gibeon knowing of his
approach that he desired the sun to delay his rising in the east, a
desire which was virtually fulfilled by that dark, cloudy condition of
the sky which precedes a thunderstorm. The natural sense of the
narrative admits neither of this explanation of the time nor of the
miracle itself.
One other notable feature in the transaction of this
day was the completeness of the defeat inflicted by
Joshua on the enemy. This defeat went on in successive
stages from early morning till late at night. First,
there was the slaughter in the plain of Gibeon. Then
the havoc produced by the hail and by Joshua on the retreating
army. Then the destruction caused as Joshua
followed the enemy to their cities. And the work
of the day was wound up by the execution of the
five kings. Moreover, there followed a succession of
similar scenes at the taking and sacking of their cities.
When we try to realize all this in detail, we are
confronted with a terrible scene of blood and death,
and possibly we may find ourselves asking, Was there
a particle of humanity in Joshua, that he was capable
of such a series of transactions? Certainly Joshua
was a great soldier, and a great religious soldier, but
he was in many ways like his time. He had many
of the qualities of Oriental commanders, and one of
these qualities has ever been to carry slaughter to the
utmost limit that the occasion allows. His treatment
of the conquered kings, too, was marked by characteristic
Oriental barbarity, for he caused his captains
to put their feet upon their necks, needlessly embittering
And when we turn to ourselves and think what we may learn from this transaction, we see a valuable application of his method to the spiritual warfare. God has enemies still, within and without, with whom we are called to contend. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." When we are fighting with the enemy within our own hearts leniency is our great temptation, but at the same time our greatest snare. What we need here is, courage to slay. We content ourselves with confessions and regrets, but the enemy lives, returns to the attack, and keeps us in perpetual discomfort. Oh that in this battle we resembled Joshua, aiming at killing the enemy outright, and leaving nothing belonging to him that breathes!
And in reference to the outside world, want of
thoroughness in warfare is still our besetting sin.
We play at missions; we trifle with the awful drunkenness
and sensuality around us; we look on, and we
Let us go to the cross of Jesus to revive our faith and recruit our energies. The Captain of our salvation has not only achieved salvation for us, but He has set us a blessed example of the spirit and life of true Christian warriors.
Joshua xi., xii.
It has not been generally noticed how remarkably
the Gibeonite fraud, and the honourable action of
Joshua in connection with it, tended in the end to the
good of Israel. Had Joshua, after the discovery of
the fraud, repudiated his treaty and attacked and exterminated
the Gibeonites, or had he disregarded their
appeal to him for help and suffered them to be crushed
by Adonizedec, there would have been nothing to
hinder the southern kings from uniting with the
northern, and thus presenting to Joshua the most
formidable opposition that was ever mustered in defence
of a country. The magnificent exploit of Joshua in
the plain of Gibeon, down the pass of Bethhoron, and
in the valley of Ajalon entirely frustrated any such
arrangement. The armies of the southern kings were
destroyed or demoralized. And though the united
forces in the north, with their vast resources of war,
still formed a most formidable opponent, the case would
Joshua was not allowed a long rest at Gilgal after
his dealings with Adonizedec and his brethren. No
doubt the news of that tremendous disaster would
quicken the energies of the northern kings. The head
of the new conspiracy was Jabin, King of Hazor. Jabin
was evidently an official name borne by the chief ruler
of Hazor, like Pharaoh in Egypt, for when, at a subsequent
period, the place has recovered somewhat of its
importance, and comes again into view as a Canaanite
capital, Jabin is again the name of its chief ruler
(
The situation of Hazor has been disputed by geographers,
and Robinson, who is usually so accurate,
differs from other authorities. He assigns it to a
ruinous city on a hill called Tell Khuraibeh, overhanging
the Lake Merom, for little other reason than that it
seems to answer the conditions of the various narratives
where Hazor is introduced. On the other hand, the
author of "The Land and the Book" assigns it to a
place still called Hazere, a little west of Merom, the
remains of which lie in a large natural basin, and
spread far up the hill, toward the south. "Heaps of
hewn stone, old and rotten; open pits, deep wells, and
vast cisterns cut in the solid rock—these are the unequivocal
indications of an important city.... I inquired
of an old sheikh what saint was honoured there. In
a voice loud and bold, as if to make a doubtful point
The cities of some of the other confederates are
named, but it is not easy to identify them all. The
sites of Madon, Shimron, and Achshaph, are unknown,
but they were apparently not far from Hazor. "The
Arabah south of Chinneroth" (ver. 2, R.V.) denotes the
plain of Jordan south of the lake of Galilee; the valley,
or "lowland" (R.V.), denotes the maritime plain from
the Philistines northward; "the heights of Dor on
the west" (R.V.), or Highlands of Dor ("Speaker's
Commentary"), the hills about a city on the sea coast,
near the foot of Carmel, prominent in after history,
but now reduced to a village with a few poor houses.
The sacred historian, however, does not attempt to
enumerate all the places from which the confederacy
was drawn, and falls back on the old comprehensive
formula—"Canaanites on the east and on the west,
Amorites, Hittites, the Jebusites in the hill country,
and the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpeh."
"The Canaanites on the west" embraced the people of
Zidon, for Joshua is expressly stated to have followed
a band of the fugitives to that city (ver. 8). The muster
must have been an extraordinary one, as numerous
"as the sand that is upon the sea shore in multitude."
Josephus gives the numbers as 300,000 footmen,
10,000 horsemen, and 20,000 chariots; but we can
hardly attach much value to his figures. "Horses
and chariots" was an arm unknown to the Israelites,
with which hitherto they had never contended. This
vast host came together and pitched at the waters of
It was a very serious undertaking for Joshua, and
before attempting it he stood much in need of the
encouragement of Jehovah—"Be not afraid because of
them: for to-morrow about this time will I deliver them
up all slain before Israel: thou shalt hough their horses,
and burn all their chariots with fire." Not on the
number nor on the bravery of his own people, though
they had stood by him most nobly, was he to place
his reliance, but on the power of God. "Rule thou in
the midst of thine enemies" was his mot d'ordre, as
it was afterwards of that other Joshua, whose battles
were not with confused noise nor with garments rolled
in blood, but were triumphs of truth and love. Where
"To-morrow about this time will I deliver them up
all slain before Israel." When he got that assurance,
Joshua must already have left Gilgal some days before,
and was now within a moderate distance of Merom.
There was to be no delay in the completing of the enterprise.
"To-morrow about this time." Though, as a rule,
the mills of God grind slowly, there are times when their
velocity is wonderfully accelerated. He has sometimes
wonderful to-morrows. When Hezekiah was gazing
appalled on the hosts of Sennacherib as they lay coiled
round Jerusalem, God had a "to-morrow about this
time" when the terror would be exchanged for a glorious
relief. When the apostles met in the upper chamber,
and were wondering how they were ever to conquer
the world for their Master, there was a "to-morrow"
at hand, when the Spirit was to "come down like rain
on the mown grass, and like showers that water the
earth." When, at the end of the world, iniquity abounds
and faith is low, and scoffers are asking, "Where is
the promise of His coming?" there will come a "to-morrow
about this time" when the heavens will pass
away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt
And all was well with Joshua. Arriving suddenly
at the waters of Merom, he fell on the mighty host of
the enemy, who, taken by surprise, seem not to have
struck one blow, but to have been seized at once with
that panic which so thoroughly demoralizes Eastern
hordes, and to have fled in consternation. In three
great streams the fugitives sought their homes. One
portion made for Misrephothmaim in the south-west,
now, it is thought, represented by Musheirifeh on the
north border of the plain of Acre; another struck in
a north-easterly direction through the valley of the
upper Jordan, or east of Hermon to the valley of
Mizpeh; a third, passing through the gorge of the
Litany, made for great Zidon, in the distant north.
Joshua himself would seem to have pursued this column
of fugitives, and, passing over a rough path of more
than forty miles, not to have abandoned them till they
took refuge within the walls of Zidon. If he had
attacked and destroyed that stronghold, it might have
changed for the better much of the future history of
his country; for the Jezebels and Athaliahs of after
days were among the worst enemies of Israel. But he
did not deem himself called to that duty. It seemed
The conquest of Western Palestine was thus virtually
completed. First, by taking Jericho, Joshua had
possessed himself of the Jordan valley, and established
a clear communication with Bashan and Gilead, which
the two and a half tribes had received for their inheritance.
By the conquest of Ai and Bethel, he had made
a way to the great plateau of Western Palestine, and by
his treaty with the Gibeonites he had extended his hold
a considerable way farther to the south and the west.
Then, by the great victory of Bethhoron, he had
The northern section had been subdued at Merom, and much crippled through the pursuit of Joshua after the battle there. The only important parts of the country of which he did not gain possession were the land of the Philistines, the strip of sea coast held by Tyre and Zidon, and some small kingdoms on the north-east. It would seem that in the instructions received by him from Moses, these were not included, for it is expressly said of him that "he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses." Emphasis is laid on the fact that his conquests were not confined to one section or denomination of territory, but embraced the whole. "Joshua took all that land, the hill country, and all the South, and all the land of Goshen, and the lowland, and the Arabah, and the hill country of Israel, and the lowland of the same; from Mount Halak (or, the bare mountain) [on the south], that goeth up to Seir [the land of Edom], even unto Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon under Mount Hermon [in the north]: and all their kings he took, and smote them, and put them to death" (R.V.). The "Goshen" here spoken of cannot, of course, be the Egyptian Goshen, for this city was in the neighbourhood of Gibeon (chap. x. 41); but its site has not been identified.
We are told that the wars of Joshua occupied a
long time. Probably from five to seven years were
consumed by them, for though the pitched battles of
Bethhoron and Merom virtually decided the mastership
Two additional statements are made towards the
close of the eleventh chapter. One is, that with the
single exception of Gibeon, no attempt was made by
any of the chiefs or cities to make peace with Joshua.
"For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts that
they should come against Israel in battle, that he
might destroy them utterly, and that they might have
no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the
Lord commanded Moses." It would have been very
embarrassing to Joshua if they had submitted spontaneously,
and cast themselves on his generosity, for his
orders were to destroy them. But this difficulty did not
arise. None of the cities seem to have shared the
conviction of the Gibeonites that opposition was needless,
that Israel was sure to prevail, and get possession
of the country. When men's backs are up, to use a
common phrase, they will do wonders in the way of
facing danger and enduring suffering. Even the resistance
of the martyrs cannot be wholly ascribed to
holy faith and loyalty to God; in many cases, no doubt,
something was due to that dogged spirit that won't
submit, that won't be beat, that will endure incredible
That some of the Canaanites did leave the country seems very probable, although little importance is to be attached to the statement of Procopius that after trying Egypt they settled in Libya, and overspread Africa as far as the Pillars of Hercules. At a fortress in Numidia called Tigisis or Tingis he says that so late as the sixth century after Christ there were discovered near a great wall two pillars of white stone bearing, in Phœnician, the inscription, "We are those who fled before the robber Jeshus, son of Nane." Ewald and others by whom this tradition is noticed are not disposed, owing to its late date, to attach to it any weight.
The other statement relates to the Anakim. Sometime,
not precisely defined, while engaged in his conflicts
Joshua "cut off the Anakims from the mountains,
from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all
the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of
Israel," leaving none of them except in Gaza, in Gath,
and in Ashdod (xi. 21). Afterwards it is said (xv. 14)
that it was Caleb that drove from Hebron the three
We are weary of the din of arms, and come at last
to the refreshing statement: "And the land rested
from war." The annals of peace are always more
brief than the records of war; and when we reach this
short but welcome clause we might wish that it were
so expanded as to fill our eyes and our hearts with the
blessings which peace scatters with her kindly hand.
For that impression we need only to turn to another page
of our Bible, and read of the campaigns of another Joshua.
"And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their
synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom,
and healing all manner of sickness, and all manner
of disease among the people." The contrast is very
But let us not indulge in too complete a contrast between the two conquerors. Joshua's rough ploughshare prepared the way for Jesus' words of mercy and deeds of love. God's message to man is not all in honeyed words. Even Jesus, as He went through Galilee, proclaimed, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And it was those only who gave heed to the call to repent that became possessors of the kingdom.
Joshua xiii., xiv. 1-5.
But however much men may like to be young, and
however much some may retain in old age of the
Let the young think well of this, before it is too late to learn how to live.
To Joshua the announcement that he was old and
stricken in years does not appear to have brought any
painful or regretful feeling. Perhaps he had aged
somewhat suddenly; his energies may have failed consciously
and rapidly, after his long course of active
and anxious military service. He may have been glad
to hear God utter the word; he may have been feeling
it himself, and wondering how he should be able to
go through the campaigns yet necessary to put the
children of Israel in full possession of the land. That
word may have fallen on his ear with the happy feeling—how
considerate God is! He will not burden my old
age with a load not suited for it. Though His years
have no end, and He knows nothing of failing strength,
"He knoweth our frame, He remembereth that we
are dust." He will not "cast me off in the time of
old age, nor forsake me when my strength faileth."
Happy confidence, especially for the aged poor! It
is the want of trust in the heavenly Father that makes
so many miserable in old age. When you will not
believe that He is considerate and kind, you are left
to your own resources, and often to destitution and
misery. But when between Him and you there is the
So Joshua finds that he is now to be relieved by
his considerate Master of laborious and anxious service.
Not of all service, but of exhausting service, unsuited
to his advancing years. Joshua had been a right
faithful servant; few men have ever done their work
so well. From that day when he stood against Amalek
from morning to night, while the rod of Moses was
stretched out over him on the hill; thereafter, during
all his companionship with Moses on the mount; next
in that search-expedition when Caleb and he stood so
firm, and did not flinch in the face of the congregation,
though every one was for stoning them; and now,
from the siege of Jericho to the victory of Merom, and
all through the trying and perilous sieges of city after
city, year after year, Joshua has proved himself the
faithful servant of God and the devoted friend of Israel.
During these last years he has enjoyed supreme power,
apparently without a rival and without a foe; yet,
strange to say, there is no sign of his having been
corrupted by power, or made giddy by elevation. He
has led a most useful and loyal life, which there is
some satisfaction in looking back on. No doubt he
is well aware of unnumbered failings: "Who can
understand his errors?" But he has the rare satisfaction—oh!
who would not wish to share it?—of
looking back on a well-spent life, habitually and
earnestly regulated amid many infirmities by regard to
the will of God. Neither he, nor St. Paul after him,
Yet Joshua was not to complete that work to which he had contributed so much: "there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed." At one time, no doubt, he thought otherwise, and he desired otherwise. When the tide of victory was setting in for him so steadily, and region after region of the land was falling into his hands, it was natural to expect that before he ended he would sweep all the enemies of Israel before him, and open every door for them throughout the land, even to its utmost borders. Why not make hay when the sun shone? When God had found so apt an instrument for His great design, why did He not employ him to the end? If the natural term of Joshua's strength had come, why did not that God who had supernaturally lengthened out the day for completing the victory of Bethhoron, lengthen out Joshua's day that the whole land of Canaan might be secured?
Here comes in a great mystery of Providence. Instead of lengthening out the period of Joshua's strength, God seems to have cut it short. We can easily understand the lesson for Joshua himself. It is the lesson which so many of God's servants have had to learn. They start with the idea they are to do everything; they are to reform every abuse, overthrow every stronghold of evil, reduce chaos to order and beauty; as if each were
Sooner or later they find that they must be satisfied with a much humbler rôle. They must learn to
Joshua must be made to feel—perhaps he needs this—that
this enterprise is not his, but God's. And God
is not limited to one instrument, or to one age, or to
one plan. Never does Providence appear to us so
strange, as when a noble worker is cut down in the
very midst of his work. A young missionary has just
shown his splendid capacity for service, when fever
strikes him low, and in a few days all that remains of him
is rotting in the ground. What can God mean? we
sometimes ask impatiently. Does He not know the
rare value and the extreme scarcity of such men, that
He sets them up apparently just to throw them down?
But "God reigneth, let the people tremble." All that
bears on the Christian good of the world is in God's
plan, and it is very dear to God, and "precious in the
sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." But He
is not limited to single agents. When Stephen died,
He raised up Saul. For Wicliffe He gave Luther.
When George Wishart was burnt He raised up John
Knox. Kings, it is said, die, but the king never. The
herald that announces "The king is dead," proclaims
in the same breath, "God save the king!" God's
So Joshua must be content to have done his part, and done it well, although he did not conquer all the land, and there yet remained much to be possessed. Without entering in detail into all the geographical notices of this chapter, it will be well to note briefly what parts of the country were still unsubdued.
First, there were all the borders of the Philistines,
and all Geshuri; the five lords of the Philistines,
dwelling in Gaza, Ashdod, Ascalon, Gath, and Ekron;
and also the Avites. This well defined country consisted Smith's "Bible Dictionary."
Geshuri lay between Philistia and the desert, and
the Avites were probably some remainder of the Avims,
from whom the Philistines conquered the land (
In many respects it would have been a great boon
for the Israelites if Joshua had conquered a people
that were so troublesome to them as the Philistines
were for many a day. What Joshua left undone,
Saul began, but failed to achieve, and at last David
accomplished. The Geshurites were subdued with the
Amalekites while he was dwelling at Ziklag as an
ally of the Philistines (
Another important section of the country unsubdued was the Phœnician territory—the land of the Sidonians (vv. 4, 6). Also the hilly country across Lebanon, embracing the valley of Cœle-Syria, and apparently the region of Mount Carmel ("from Lebanon unto Misrephothmaim," ver. 6, and comp. chap. xi. 8). No doubt much of this district was recovered in the time of the Judges, and still more in the time of David; but David made peace with the King of Tyre, who still retained the rocky strip of territory that was so useful to a commercial nation, but would have been almost useless to an agricultural people like the Israelites.
Joshua was not called on to conquer these territories in the sense of driving out all the old inhabitants; but he was instructed to divide the whole land among his people—a task involving, no doubt, its own difficulties, but not the physical labour which war entailed. And in this division he was called first to recognise what had already been done by Moses with the part of the country east of the Jordan. That part had been allotted to Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh; and the allotment was still to hold good.
It is remarkable with what fulness the places are
described. First, we have the boundaries of that part
of the country generally (vv. 9-12); then of the allotments
of each of the two and a half tribes (vv. 15-31).
With regard to the district as a whole, the conquest
under Moses was manifestly complete, from the river
Arnon on the south, to the borders of the Geshurites
and Maachathites on the north. The only part not
subdued were the territories of these Geshurites and
Maachathites. The Geshurites here are not to be confounded
with the people of the same name mentioned
in ver. 2, who were at the opposite extreme—the south-west
But though the subjugation and occupation of the
eastern part of the land was thus tolerably complete
(with the exceptions just mentioned), it remained in
the undisturbed possession of Israel for the shortest
time of any. From Moabites and Ammonites on the
south, Canaanites and Syrians on the north and the
east, as well as the Midianites, Amalekites, and other
tribes of the desert, it was subject to continual invasions.
In fact, it was the least settled and least comfortable
part of all the country; and doubtless it became soon
apparent that though the two tribes and a half had
seemed to be very fortunate in having their wish
granted to settle in this rich and beautiful region, yet on
the whole they had been penny-wise and pound-foolish.
Not only were they incessantly assailed and worried
by their neighbours, but they were the first to be
carried into captivity, when the King of Assyria directed
his eyes to Palestine. They had shown somewhat of
the spirit of Lot, and they suffered somewhat of his
punishment. It is worthy of remark that even at this
day this eastern province is the most disturbed part
of Palestine. The Bedouins are ever liable to make
The specification of the allotments need not detain
us long. Reuben's was the farthest south. His
southern and eastern flanks were covered by the
Moabites, who greatly annoyed him. "Unstable as
water, he did not excel." Gad settled north of Reuben.
In his lot was the southern part of Gilead; Mahanaim,
and Peniel, celebrated in the history of Jacob, and
Ramoth-gilead, conspicuous in after times. East of
Gad were the Ammonites, who proved as troublesome
to that tribe as Moab did to Reuben. To the half-tribe
of Manasseh the kingdom of Og fell, and the
northern half of Gilead. Jabesh-gilead, where Saul
routed the Ammonites, was in this tribe (
In our Lord's time this portion of Palestine was called Perea. Under the dominion of the Romans, it was comparatively tranquil, and our Lord would sometimes select it, on account of its quiet, as his route to Jerusalem. And many of His gifts of love and mercy were doubtless scattered over its surface.
Two statements are introduced parenthetically in this chapter which hardly belong to the substance of it. One of these, occurring twice, respects the inheritance of the Levites (vv. 14, 33). No territorial possessions were allotted to them corresponding to those of the other tribes. In the one place it is said that "the sacrifices of the Lord God of Israel made by fire were their inheritance"; in the other, that "the Lord God of Israel was their inheritance." We shall afterwards find the arrangements for the Levites more fully detailed (chaps. xx., xxi.). This early allusion to the subject, even before the allotments in Western Palestine begin to be described, shows that their case had been carefully considered, and that it was not by oversight but deliberately that the country was divided without any section being reserved for them.
The other parenthetical statement respects the death
of Balaam. "Balaam also, the soothsayer, did the
children of Israel slay with the sword among them
that were slain by them" (ver. 22). It appears from
The two and a half tribes were well taught by the
fate of Balaam that, in the end, however cunningly a
man may act, his sin will find him out. They were
emphatically reminded that the sins of sensuality and
idolatry are exceedingly hateful in the sight of God,
and certain to be punished. They were assured by the
testimony of Balaam, that Israel, if only faithful, would
never cease to enjoy the Divine protection and blessing.
But they were reminded that God is not mocked: that
There is some difficulty in adjusting the three passages in which
the settlement of Caleb is referred to. From this first passage of
the three, we are led to think that it was before the tribe of Judah
obtained its portion. Again, from chap. xv. 13 we might suppose
that it was simultaneously with the rest of the tribe. From
Joshua xiv. 6-15.
Caleb and Joshua had believed and acted alike, in Some readers may no doubt prefer the explanation that when
Caleb is mentioned alone one document was followed, and when
Caleb and Joshua are coupled, another.
It is beautiful to see that there was no rivalry between them. Not only did Caleb interpose no remonstrance when Joshua was called to succeed Moses, but he seems all through the wars to have yielded to him the most loyal and hearty submission. God had set His seal on Joshua, and the people had ratified the appointment, and Caleb was too magnanimous to allow any poor ambition of his, if he had any, to come in the way of the Divine will and the public good. His affectionate and cordial bearing on the present occasion seems to show that not even in the corner of his heart did there linger a trace of jealousy toward the old friend and companion whom on that occasion he had surpassed, but who had been set so much higher than himself. He came to him as the recognised leader of the people—as the man whose voice was to decide the question he now submitted, as the judge and arbiter in a matter which very closely concerned him and his house.
And yet there are indications of tact on the part of
Caleb, of a thorough understanding of the character
of Joshua, and of the sort of considerations by which
he might be expected to be swayed. There were two
grounds on which he might reasonably look for the
conceding of his request—his personal services, and
the promise of Moses. Caleb knows well that the
promise of Moses will influence Joshua much more
than any other consideration; therefore he puts it in
the foreground. "Thou knowest the thing that the
Lord said unto Moses, the man of God, concerning me
and thee in Kadesh-barnea." "Moses, the man of
God." Why does Caleb select that remarkable epithet?
Why add anything to the usual name, Moses? The
use of the epithet was honouring to all the three.
Having fortified his plea with this strong reference
at once to Moses and to God, Caleb proceeds to rehearse
the service which had led to the promise of Moses.
The facts could not but be well known to Joshua.
"Forty years old was I when Moses, the servant of the
Lord, sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land,
and I brought him word again as it was in my heart.
Nevertheless, my brethren that went up with me made
the heart of the people melt; but I wholly followed
the Lord my God." Why does Caleb put the matter
"I brought him word again, as it was in my heart."
The statement is made in no boasting spirit, and yet
what a rare virtue it denotes! Caleb, as we now say,
had the courage of his convictions. He had both an
honest heart and an honest tongue. We can have but
little idea what temptations he lay under not to speak
what was in his heart. For six weeks these ten men
What more common in Parliament, for example, than
for men to differ strongly from some of the measures
of their party, and yet, because it is their party,
support them by their votes? And in the ranks of
the Church and of its various sections the same tendency
prevails, though it may be in a less degree. Of
the many able and seemingly honest prelates of the
Roman Church who dissented, often with vehemence,
from the Vatican decree of the pope's infallibility, what
became finally of their opposition? Were there more
than one or two who did not surrender in the end, and
agree to profess what they did not believe? And to
come to more ordinary matters, when our opinions on
religious subjects are at a discount, when they are met
with ridicule, how often do we conceal them, or trim
and modify them in order that we may not share in
the current condemnation? The men that have the
courage of their convictions are often social martyrs,
shut out from the fellowship of their brethren, shut
out from every berth of honour or emolument, and yet,
for their courage and honesty, worthy of infinitely
higher regard than whole hundreds of the time-servers
Nevertheless, though most of us show ourselves miserably weak by not speaking out all that is "in our hearts," especially when the honour of our Lord and Master is concerned, we are able to appreciate and cannot fail to admire the noble exhibitions of courage that we sometimes meet with. That beautiful creation of Milton's, the Seraph Abdiel, "faithful found among the faithless, faithful only he," is the type and ideal of the class. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego resisting the enthusiasm of myriads and calmly defying the fiery furnace; the Apostle Paul clinging to his views of the law and the gospel when even his brother Peter had begun to waver; Martin Luther, with his foot on the Bible confronting the whole world; John Knox defying sovereign and nobles and priests alike, determined that the gospel should be freely preached; Carey, going out as a missionary to India amid the derision of the world, because he could not get the words out of his head, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel unto every creature,"—have all exemplified the Caleb spirit that must utter what is in the heart; nor has any new idea commonly laid hold of mankind till the struggles of some great hero or the ashes of some noble martyr have gone to sanctify the cause.
"He that believeth shall not make haste." Caleb
believed, and therefore he was patient. Five-and-forty
long years had elapsed since Moses, the man of God,
speaking in the Spirit of God, had promised him a
particular inheritance in the land. It was a long time
for faith to live on a promise, but, like a tree in the
face of a cliff that seems to grow out of the solid rock,
It seems that when acting as one of the twelve
spies, Caleb had in some emphatic way taken his stand
on Hebron. "The land on which thy foot hath trodden
will be an inheritance to thee." Perhaps the spies
were too terrified to approach Hebron, for the sons of
the Anakim were there, and, in the confidence of faith,
Caleb, or Caleb and Joshua, had gone into it alone.
Moses had promised him Hebron, and now he came
to claim it. But he came to claim it under circumstances
that would have induced most men to let it
alone. The driving out of the Anakim was a formidable
duty, and the task might have seemed more
suitable for one who had the strength and enthusiasm
of youth on his side. But Caleb, though eighty-five,
was yet young. Age is not best measured by years.
He was a remarkable instance of prolonged vigour and
There is something singularly touching in Caleb's asking as a favour what was really a most hazardous but important service to the nation. Rough though these Hebrew soldiers were, they were capable of the most gentlemanly and chivalrous acts. There can be no higher act of courtesy than to treat as a favour to yourself what is really a great service to another. Well done, Caleb! You do not ask for a berth which there will be no trouble in taking or in keeping. You are not like Issachar, the strong ass couching between the sheepfolds: "and he saw a resting-place that it was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and he bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant under task-work." The dew of youth is yet upon you, the stirring of lofty purpose and noble endeavour; you are like the warhorse of Job—"he paweth in the valley and rejoiceth in his strength; he mocketh at fear, and is not dismayed; he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains and the shouting."
There is nothing we admire more in military annals than a soldier volunteering for the most hazardous and difficult of posts,—showing
In the spiritual warfare, too, we do not want instances
And even now there are other Anakim among us
for whom the fate of the Canaanite giants ought to be
reserved. Anakim within us—greed, selfishness, love
of ease, lust, passion, cruelty—all, if we are faithful,
to be put to the edge of the sword. And there are
Anakim, tremendous Anakim, around us—drunkenness,
and all that fosters it, despite the paltry excuses
we so often hear; sensuality, that vile murderer of
soul and body together; avarice, so cruelly unjust, and
content to gather its hoard from the thews and sinews
of men and women to whom life has become worse
than slavery; luxurious living, that mocks the struggles
of thousands to whom one crumb from the table or
one rag from the wardrobe would bring such a blessed
relief. With giants like these we need to wage incessant
war, and for the necessary spirit we need constant
supplies of the faith and courage that were so remarkable
in Caleb. He followed the Lord fully; believing
that if the Lord deserved to be followed at all, He
deserved to be followed in full. What was there to
gain by following Him one half, and surrendering the
other half to the world? Could he count on God
helping him if he went with but half his heart into His
The tendency to compromise is one of the besetting sins of the day. In the army or the navy, if one is to serve God at all, one must serve Him wholly. Decision is eminently requisite there, and Christians there are commonly more whole-hearted and consistent than in many circles nominally Christian. Decision is manly, is noble; it brings rest within, and in the end it conciliates the respect of the bitterest foes. Courage is the ornament of Christianity, and the crown of the Christian youth. "Fear not" is one of the brightest gems of the Bible.
Joshua xv.-xix.
Now that the distribution of this part of the country
begins, we must give special attention to the operation.
The narrative looks very bare, but important principles
and lessons underlie it. These lists of unfamiliar
names look like the débris of a quarry—hard, meaningless,
Now, in the first place, there is something to be
learned from the maintenance of the distinction of the
twelve tribes, and the distribution of the country into
portions corresponding to each. In some degree this
was in accordance with Oriental usage; for the country
had already been occupied by various races, dwelling
in a kind of unity—the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites,
Hivites, Jebusites, Perizzites, and Girgashites. What
was peculiar to Israel was, that each of the tribes was
descended from one of Jacob's sons, and that their
relation to each other was conspicuously maintained,
though their dwelling-places were apart. It was an
arrangement capable of becoming a great benefit under
a right spirit, or a great evil under the opposite. As
in the case of the separate states of North America,
or the separate cantons of Switzerland, it provided for
variety in unity; it gave a measure of local freedom
and independence, while it maintained united action;
it contributed to the life and vigour of the commonwealth,
without destroying its oneness of character, or
impairing its common purpose and aim. It promoted
that picturesque variety often found in little countries,
where each district has a dialect, or a pronunciation, or
traditions, or a character of its own; as Yorkshire
differs from Devon, or Lancashire from Cornwall;
Aberdeenshire from Berwick, or Fife from Ayr. As in
a garden, variety of species enlivens and enriches the
But the wrong spirit came in, and came in with a
witness, and mischief ensued. For distinctions in
race and family are apt to breed rivalry and enmity,
and not only to destroy all the good which may come
of variety, but to introduce interminable mischief. For
many a long day the Scottish clans were like Ishmael,
their hand against every man, and every man's hand
against them; or at least one clan was at interminable
feud with another, and the country was wretched and
desolate. Among the twelve tribes of Israel the spirit
of rivalry soon showed itself, leading to disastrous
consequences. In the time of the judges, the men of
Ephraim exhibited their temper by envying Gideon
when he subdued the Midianites, and Jephthah when
he subdued the Ammonites; and under Jephthah a
prodigious slaughter of Ephraimites resulted from their
unreasonable spirit. In the time of the kings, a permanent
schism was caused by the revolt of the ten
Many arrangements of our modern civilization that
conduce to our comfort when in good order, become
sources of unexampled evil when they go wrong. The
drainage of houses conduces much to comfort while it
works smoothly; but let the drains become choked, and
send back into our houses the poisonous gases bred of
decomposition, the consequences are appalling. The
sanitary inspector must be on the alert to detect mischief
in its very beginnings, and apply the remedy before
we have well become conscious of the evil. And so
a vigilant eye needs ever to be kept on those arrangements
of providence that are so beneficial when duly
carried out, and so pernicious when thoughtlessly
perverted. What a wonderful thing is a little forbearance
at the beginning of a threatened strife! What
a priceless blessing is the soft answer that turneth
away wrath! There is a pithy tract bearing the title
"The Oiled Feather." The oiled feather has a remarkable
power of smoothing surfaces that would
otherwise grate and grind upon each other, and so of
averting evil. Among Christians it should be always
at hand; for surely, if the forbearance and love that
avert quarrels ought to be found anywhere, it is among
those who have received the fulness of Divine love and
2. Again, in the allocation of the tribes in their
various territories we have an instance of a great
natural law, the law of distribution, a law that, on the
whole, operates very beneficially throughout the world.
In society there is both a centripetal and a centrifugal
force; the centripetal chiefly human, the centrifugal
chiefly Divine. Men are prone to cluster together;
God promotes dispersion. Through the Divine law of
marriage, a man leaves his father's house and cleaves
to his wife; a new home is established, a new centre
of activity, a new source of population. In the early
ages they clustered about the plain of Shinar; the
confusion of tongues scattered them abroad. And
generally, in any fertile and desirable spot, men have
been prone to multiply till food has failed them, and
either starvation at home or emigration abroad becomes
inevitable. And so it is that, in spite of their cohesive
tendency, men are now pretty well scattered over the
globe. And when once they are settled in new homes,
they acquire adaptation to their locality, and begin to
love it. The Esquimaux is not only adapted to his
icy home, but is fond of it. The naked negro has no
quarrel with the burning sun, but enjoys his sunny
life. We of the temperate zone can hardly endure the
heat of the tropics, and we shiver at the very thought
of Lapland. It is a proof of Divine wisdom that a
The same law operates in the vegetable world. Everywhere plants seem to discover the localities where they thrive best. Even in the same country you have one flora for the valley and another for the mountain. The lichen spreads itself along the surface of rocks, or the hard bark of ancient trees; the fungus tarries in damp, unventilated corners; the primrose settles on open banks; the fern in shady groves. There is always a place for the plant, and a plant for the place. And it is so with animals too. The elephant in the spreading forest, the rabbit in the sandy down, the beaver beside the stream, the caterpillar in the leafy garden. If we could explore the ocean we should find the law of distribution in full activity there. There is one great order of fishes for fresh water, another for salt; one great class of insects in hot climates, another in temperate; birds of the air, from the eagle to the humming-bird, from the ostrich to the bat, in localities adapted to their habits. We ask not whether this result was due to creation or to evolution. There it is, and its effect is to cover the earth. All its localities, desirable and undesirable, are more or less occupied with inhabitants. Some of the great deserts that our imagination used to create in Africa or elsewhere do not exist. Barren spots there are, and "miry places and marshes given to salt," but they are not many. The earth has been replenished, and the purpose of God so far fulfilled.
And then there is a distribution of talents. We are
not all created alike, with equal dividends of the gifts
and faculties that minister in some way to the purposes
of our life. We depend more or less on one another;
The same law of distribution prevails in the Church
of Christ. It was exemplified in an interesting way
in the case of our Lord's apostles. No one of these
was a duplicate of another. Four of them, taking in
Paul, were types of varieties which have been found
in all ages of the Church. In a remarkable paper in
the Contemporary Review, Professor Godet of Neuchâtel,
after delineating the characteristics of Peter,
James, John, and Paul, remarked what an interesting
thing it was, that four men of such various temperaments
should all have found supreme satisfaction in
Jesus of Nazareth, and should have yielded up to Him
the homage and service of their lives. And throughout
the history of the Church, the distribution of gifts has
been equally marked. Chrysostom and Augustine,
Jerome and Ambrose, Bernard and Anselm, were all
of the same stock, but not of the same type. At the
Reformation men of marked individuality were provided
for every country. Germany had Luther and
Melancthon; France, Calvin and Coligny; Switzerland,
Zwingle and Farel, Viret and Œcolampadius; Poland,
À-Lasco; Scotland, Knox; England, Cranmer, Latimer,
It was a great providential law, therefore, that was recognised in the partition of the land of Canaan among the tribes. Provision was thus made for so scattering the people that they should occupy the whole country, and become adapted to the places where they settled, and to the pursuits proper to them. Even where there seems to us to have been a mere random distribution of places, there may have been underlying adaptations for them, or possibilities of adaptation known only to God; at all events the law of adaptation would take effect, by which a man becomes adapted and attached to the place that not only gives him a home but the means of living, and by which, too, he becomes a greater adept in the methods of work which ensure success.
3. Still further, in the allocation of the tribes in
their various territories we have an instance of the
way in which God designed the earth to minister most
effectually to the wants of man. We do not say that
the method now adopted in Canaan was the only plan
of distributing land that God ever sanctioned; very
probably it was the same method as had prevailed
among the Canaanites; but it is beyond doubt that,
It was a system of peasant proprietorship. The whole landed property of the country was divided among the citizens. Each freeborn Israelite was a landowner, possessing his estate by a tenure, which, so long as the constitution was observed, rendered its permanent alienation from his family impossible. At the fiftieth year, the year of jubilee, every inheritance returned, free of all encumbrance, to the representatives of the original proprietor. The arrangement was equally opposed to the accumulation of overgrown properties in the hands of the few, and to the loss of all property on the part of the many. The extremes of wealth and poverty were alike checked and discouraged, and the lot eulogised by Agur—a moderate competency, neither poverty nor riches, became the general condition of the citizens.
It is difficult to tell what extent of land fell to each
family. The portion of the land divided by Joshua
has been computed at twenty-five million acres. See Wines on the "Laws of the Ancient Hebrews," p. 388.
There is no reason to suppose that the peasant
proprietorship of the Israelites induced a stationary
and stagnant condition of society, or reduced it to one
uniform level—a mere conglomeration of men of uniform
wealth, resources, and influence. Though the land was
divided equally at first, it could not remain so divided
long. In the course of providence, when the direct
heirs failed, or when a man married a female proprietor,
two or more properties would belong to a single family.
Increased capital, skill and industry, or unusual success
in driving out the remaining Canaanites, would tend
further to the enlargement of properties. Accordingly
we meet with "men of great possessions," like Jair
the Gileadite, Boaz of Bethlehem, Nabal of Carmel, or
Barzillai the Gileadite, even in the earlier periods of
Jewish history. See the author's essay "An Old Key to our Social Problems" in
"Counsel and Cheer for the Battle of Life."
We in this country, after reaching the extreme on
the opposite side, are now trying to get back in the
direction of this ancient system. All parties seem now
agreed that something of the nature of peasant proprietorship
is necessary to solve the agrarian problem
in Ireland and in Great Britain too. It is only the
fact that in Britain commercial enterprise and emigration
afford so many outlets for the energies of our landless
4. Lastly, in the arrangements for the distribution
of the land among the twelve tribes we may note a
This is the Divine plan; and if those who enjoy a large share of the comforts of life are often selfish and worldly, it is only another proof how much a wrong spirit may pervert the gifts of God and turn them to evil. The characteristic of a good man, when he enjoys a share of worldly prosperity, is, that he does not let the world become his idol,—it is his servant, it is under his feet; he jealously guards against its becoming his master. His effort is to make a friend of the mammon of unrighteousness, and to turn every portion of it with which he may be entrusted to such a use for the good of others, that when at last he gives in his account, as steward to his Divine Master, he may do so with joy, and not with grief.
We do not encumber our exposition with a discussion of the
extraordinary theory of Wellhausen, to the effect that Judah and
Simeon, with Levi, were the first to cross the Jordan and attack the
Canaanites; that Simeon and Levi were all but annihilated; that
Joshua, who belonged to the tribe of Ephraim, did little more than
settle that tribe; and that there was hardly such a thing as united
action by the tribes, most of them having acted and fought at their
own hand. This theory rests professedly on the ground that
Joshua xv.
The territory of Judah was not pre-eminently fruitful;
it was not equal in this respect to that of Ephraim and
Manasseh. It had some fertile tracts, but a considerable
part of it was mountainous and barren. It was
of four descriptions—the hill country, the valley or low
country, the south, and the wilderness. "The hill
country," says Dean Stanley, "is the part of Palestine
which best exemplifies its characteristic scenery; the
rounded hills, the broad valleys, the scanty vegetation,
the villages and fortresses sometimes standing, more
frequently in ruins, on the hill tops; the wells in every
valley, the vestiges of terraces whether for corn or wine."
Here the lion of the tribe of Judah entrenched himself,
Many parts of Judah were adapted for the growth of
corn: witness Bethlehem, "the house of bread." But
the cultivation of the vine was pre-eminently the feature
of the tribe. "Here more than elsewhere in Palestine
are to be seen on the sides of the hills the vineyards,
marked by their watch-towers and walls, seated on their
ancient terraces, the earliest and latest symbol of Judah.
The elevation of the hills and table-lands of Judah is
the true climate of the vine. He 'bound his foal unto
the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he
washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the
blood of grapes.' It was from the Judæan valley of
Eshcol, 'the torrent of the cluster,' that the spies cut
down the gigantic cluster of grapes. 'A vineyard on
a "hill of olives"' with the 'fence,' and 'the stones
gathered out,' and the tower in 'the midst of it,' is the
natural figure which both in the prophetical and evangelical
records represents the kingdom of Judah. The
'vine' was the emblem of the nation on the coins of
the Maccabees, and in the colossal cluster of golden
grapes which overhung the porch of the second Temple;
and the grapes of Judah still mark the tombstones of
the Hebrew race in the oldest of their European
cemeteries at Prague." Stanley's "Sinai and Palestine."
The chapter now before us has a particularly barren look; but if we examine it with care we shall find it not deficient in elements of interest.
1. First, we have an elaborate delineation of the boundaries of the territory allotted to Judah. It is not difficult to follow the boundary line in the main, though some of the names cannot be identified now. The southern border began at the wilderness of Zin, where the host had been encamped more than forty years before, when the twelve spies returned with their report of the land. The line moved in a south-westerly course till it reached "the river of Egypt" and the sea shore. What this "river of Egypt" was is far from clear. Naturally one thinks of the Nile, the only stream that seems to be entitled to such an appellation. On the other hand, the term translated "river" is commonly though not always, applied to brooks or shallow torrents, and hence it has been thought to denote a brook, now called El Arish, about midway in the desert between Gaza and the Pelusiac mouth of the Nile. While we incline to the former view, we own that practically the question is of little consequence; the only difference being that if the boundary reached to the Nile, it included a larger share of the desert than if it had a more northerly limit. The Dead Sea was the chief part of the eastern frontier. The northern boundary began near Gilgal, and stretched westwards to the Mediterranean by a line that passed just south of Jerusalem.
The position of Judah was peculiar, in respect of the
enemies by whom he was surrounded. On his eastern
frontier, close to the Dead Sea, he was in contact with
Moab, and on the south with Edom, the descendants
of Esau. On the south-west were the Amalekites of
2. Next, a little episode comes into our narrative
(vv. 13-19), in connection with a special allocation of
territory within the tribe. The incident of Caleb is
rehearsed, as an introduction to the narrative that
follows. Caleb, on the strength of his promise to drive Founding on the expression, "having lighted off her ass", some
have thought that she feigned to fall off, and that her father coming
to help her in the compassionate spirit one shows in a case of
accident, she took the opportunity to ask and obtain this gift. The
explanation is far-fetched if not foolish. Her dismounting is explained
by the universal custom when one met a person of superior rank.
Comp.
The incident, though picturesque, is somewhat strange,
and we naturally ask, why should it have a place in
the dry narrative of the settlement? Possibly for the
very reason that what concerns the settlement was
very dry, and that an incident like this gave it something
of living interest. Those who lived at the time
must have had a special interest in the matter, for in
It is no great wonder that an incident which reveals the flowing generosity of a godlike heart, should sometimes be turned to account as a symbol of the liberality of God. All human generosity is but a drop from the ocean of the Divine bounty, a faint shadow of the inexhaustible substance. "If ye that are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?" If in the earthly father's bosom there be that interest in the welfare of his children which is eager to help them where help is needed and it is in his power to give it, how much more in the bosom of the Father in heaven? Why should any be backward to apply to Him—to say to Him, like Achsah, "Give me a blessing"? It pleases Him to see His children reposing trust in Him, believing in His infinite love. All that He asks of us is to come to Him through Jesus Christ, acknowledging our unworthiness, and pleading the merit of His sacrifice and intercession, as our only ground of acceptance in His sight. After His revelation of His grace in Christ our requests cannot be restricted to mere temporal things; when we ask a blessing it must be one of higher scope and quality. Yet such is His bounty that nothing can be withheld that is really for our good. "No good thing will the Lord withhold from them that walk uprightly." "Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord; if I will not open to you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it."
3. We leave this picturesque incident to re-enter
The next division, "the valley," the lowland, or
Shephelah, embraced three subdivisions—the north-eastern
The third great group of cities were those of "the
mountain," or highlands. These were mostly in the
central part of the territory, on the plateau or ridge
that runs along it, rising up from the valley of the
Dead Sea on the east, and the Shephelah, or "valley,"
on the west. Here there were four groups of cities:
eleven on the south-west (vv. 48-51), nine farther
north (vv. 52-54), ten to the east (vv. 55-57), and six
to the north (vv. 58, 59), along with Kirjath-baal
and Rabbah in the same neighbourhood. This group
included Hebron, of which we hear so much; also
Carmel, Maon, and Ziph, conspicuous in the outlaw life
of David. It is remarkable that there is no mention
of Bethlehem, which lay in "the mountain": it probably
had not yet attained to the rank of a town. But
its very omission may be regarded as a proof of the
contemporaneous date of the book; for soon after
Bethlehem was a well-known place (
A fourth group of cities were in "the wilderness" or
Migdar. This was a wild rocky region extending
between the Dead Sea and the mountains of Hebron.
"It is a plateau of white chalk, terminated on the east
by cliffs which rise vertically from the Dead Sea shore
to a height of about two thousand feet. The scenery
is barren and wild beyond all description. The chalky
ridges are scored by innumerable torrents, and their
narrow crests are separated by broad, flat valleys.
Peaks and knolls of fantastic forms rise suddenly from
the swelling downs, and magnificent precipices of rugged
limestone stand up like fortress walls above the sea.
Not a tree nor a spring is visible in the waste; and
only the desert partridge and the ibex are found ranging
the solitude." Conder's "Handbook to the Bible," pp. 213, 214.
Only six cities are enumerated as "in the wilderness"
(vv. 61, 62), so that its population must have
been very small. And of those mentioned some are
wholly unknown. The most interesting of the six is
Such, then, was the distribution of the cities of
Judah over the four sections of the territory, the south,
the Shephelah, the highlands, and the wilderness. It
was an ample and varied domain, and after Caleb
expelled the Anakim, there seems to have been little
or no opposition to the occupation of the whole by
the tribe. But "the crook in the lot" was not wanting.
The great Jebusite fortress, Jerusalem, was on the very
edge of the northern boundary of Judah. Nominally,
as we have said, Jerusalem was in the territory of
Benjamin, but really it was a city of Judah. For it is
said (ver. 63), "As for the Jebusites, the children of
Judah could not drive them out; but the Jebusites
dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this A proof that Joshua was written before the time of David.
The moral is not far to seek. There is a crisis in some men's lives, when they come under the power of religion, and feel the obligation to live to God. If they had decision and courage enough at this crisis to break off all sinful habits and connections, to renounce all unchristian ways of life, to declare with Joshua, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,"—they would no doubt experience a sharp opposition, but it would pass over, and peace would come. But often they hesitate, and shrink, and cower; they cannot endure opposition and ridicule; they retain religion enough to appease their consciences, but not to give them satisfaction and joy. It is another case of the men of Judah dwelling with the Jebusites, and with the same result; they are not happy, they are not at rest; they bring little or no honour to their Master, and they have little influence on the world for good.
Joshua xvi., xvii.
The delimitation of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh is not easy to follow, particularly in the Authorized Version, which not only does not translate very accurately, but uses some English expressions of uncertain meaning. The Revised Version is much more helpful, correcting both classes of defects in its predecessor. Yet even the Revised Version sometimes leaves us at a loss. It has been supposed, indeed, that some words have dropped out of the text. Moreover, it has not been found possible to ascertain the position of all the places mentioned. Uncertainty as to the precise boundaries cannot but prevail, and differences of opinion among commentators. But the uncertainty applies only to the minuter features of the description, it bears chiefly on the points at which one tribe adjoined another. The portion of the land occupied by Ephraim and Manasseh is, on the whole, very clearly known, just as their influence on the history of the country is very distinctly marked.
In point of fact, the lot of Joseph in Western
Palestine was, in many respects, the most desirable
of any. It was a fertile and beautiful district. It
embraced the valley of Shechem, the first place of
Abraham's sojourn, and reckoned by travellers to be
one of the most beautiful spots, some say the most
beautiful spot, in Palestine. Samaria, at the head of
another valley celebrated for its "glorious beauty," and
for its "fatness" or fertility (
As we have said already, we have no information regarding Joshua's conquest of this part of the country. It seems to have been run over more superficially than the north and the south. Consequently the ancient inhabitants were still very numerous, and they were formidable likewise, because they had chariots of iron.
In the definition of boundaries we have first a notice
applicable to Joseph as a whole, then specifications
applicable to Ephraim and Manasseh respectively. The
southern border is delineated twice with considerable
minuteness, and its general course, extending from
near the Jordan at Jericho, past Bethel and Luz, and
down the pass of Bethhoron to the Mediterranean,
is clear enough. The border between Ephraim and
Manasseh is not so clear, nor the northern border
of Manasseh. It is further to be remarked that, while
we have an elaborate statement of boundaries, we have
no list of towns in Ephraim and Manasseh such as we
have for the tribe of Judah. This gives countenance
to the supposition that part of the ancient record has
somehow dropped out. We find, however, another statement
about towns which is of no small significance.
At chap. xvi. 9 we find that several cities were appropriated
to Ephraim that were situated in the territory
As for Megiddo, many a battle was fought in its plain. So early as the days of Thotmes III. of Egypt (about 1600 B.C.) it was famous in battle, for in an inscription on the temple of Karnak, containing a record of his conquests in Syria, Megiddo flourishes as the scene of a great conflict. The saddest and most notable of its battles was that between King Josiah and the Egyptians, in which that good young king was killed. In fact, Megiddo obtained such notoriety as a battle-field that in the Apocalypse (xvi. 16) Ar-Mageddon (Har-magedon, R.V.) is the symbol of another kind of battle-ground—the meeting-place for "the war of the great day of God the Almighty."
We can only conjecture why these cities, most of
which were in Issachar, were given to Manasseh.
They were strongholds in the great plain of Esdraelon,
where most of the great battles of Canaan were fought.
Undoubtedly these sons of Joseph occupied a position
which gave them unrivalled opportunities of benefiting
their country. But with the exception of the splendid
exploit of Gideon, a man of Manasseh, and his little
band, we hear of little in the history that redounded
to the credit of Joseph's descendants. Nobility of
character is not hereditary. Sometimes nature appears
to spend all her intellectual and moral wealth on the
father, and almost to impoverish the sons. And sometimes
the sons live on the virtues of their fathers,
and cannot be roused to the exertion or the sacrifice
needed to continue their work and maintain their
reputation. A humorous saying is recorded of an
eminent pastor of the Waldensian Church who found
his people much disposed to live on the reputation of
their fathers, and tried in vain to get them to do
as their fathers did; he said that they were like the
potato—the best part of them was under the ground.
If you say, "We have Abraham for our father," take
care that you say it in the proper sense. Be sure that
After the division, the vain, self-important spirit of Ephraim broke out in a characteristic way. "Why," said he to Joshua, "hast thou given me but one lot and one part for an inheritance, seeing I am a great people, forasmuch as hitherto the Lord hath blessed me?" A grumbling reference seems to be made here to his brother Manasseh, who had received two lots, one on each side of the Jordan. At first it appears that there was some reason in the complaint of Ephraim. The free part of his lot seems to have been small, that is, the part not occupied by Canaanites. But we cannot think that the whole inheritance of Ephraim was so small as we find represented in the map of Major Conder, of the Palestine Exploration Fund, in his "Handbook to the Bible," because it is said, both in the Authorized and in the Revised Version, that his western boundary extended to the sea, while Major Conder makes it cease much sooner. But, looking at the whole circumstances, it is probable that Ephraim's complaint was dictated by jealousy of Manasseh, who certainly had received the double inheritance.
Alas, how apt is the spirit of discontent still to crop
up when we compare our lot with that of others!
Were we quite alone, or were there no case for comparison,
we might be content enough; it is when we
Joshua dealt very wisely and fearlessly with the
complaint of Ephraim, though it was his own tribe.
You say you are a great people—be it so; but if you
are a great people, you must be capable of great deeds.
Two great undertakings are before you now. There
are great woodlands in your lot that have not been
cleared—direct your energies to them, and they will
afford you more room for settlements. Moreover, the
Canaanites are still in possession of a large portion of
your lot; up and attack them and drive them out, and
you will be furnished with another area for possession.
Joshua accepted their estimate of their importance, but
gave it a very different practical turn. What they had
wished him to do was to take away a portion from some
other tribe and give it as an extra allotment to them,
so that it would be theirs without labour or trouble.
What Joshua did was to spur them to courageous
and self-denying exertion, in order that their object
might be gained through the instrumentality of their
own labour. For the sickly sentiment that desires a
mine of gold to start into being and scatter its untold
treasure at our feet, he substituted the manly sentiment
of the proverb, "No gains without pains." "The
We have all heard of the dying father who informed
his sons that there was a valuable treasure in a certain
field, and counselled them to set to work to find it.
With great care they turned up every morsel of the
soil; but no treasure appeared, till, observing in
autumn what a rich crop covered the field, they came
to understand that the fruit of persevering labour was
the treasure which their father meant. We have heard,
too, of a physician who was consulted by a rich man
suffering cruelly from gout, and asked if he had any
cure for it. "Yes," said the doctor, "live on sixpence
a day, and work for it." The same principle underlay
the counsel of Joshua. Of course it gratifies a certain
part of our nature to get a mass of wealth without
working for it. But this is not the best part of our
nature. Probably in no class has the great object of life
been so much lost, and the habit of indolence and self-indulgence
become so predominant as in that of young
men born to the possession of a great fortune, and
never requiring to turn a hand for anything they
desired. After all, the necessity of work is a great
blessing. We speak of the curse of toil, but except
when the labour is excessive, or unhealthy in its conditions,
or when it has to be prosecuted in sickness
or failing strength, it is not a curse but a blessing.
Instead of being ashamed of labour, we have cause
rather to be proud of it. It guards from numberless
temptations; it promotes a healthy body and a healthy
mind; it increases the zest of life; it promotes cheerfulness
and flowing spirits; it makes rest and healthy
This great principle of ordinary life has its place too in the spiritual economy. The age is now past that had for its favourite notion, that seclusion from the world and exemption from all secular employment was the most desirable condition for a servant of God. The experiment of the hermits was tried, but it was a failure. Seclusion from the world and the consecration of the whole being to private acts of devotion and piety were no success. He who moves about among his fellows, and day by day knows the strain of labour, is more likely to prosper spiritually than he who shuts himself up in a cell, and looks on all secular work as pollution. It is not the spiritual invalid who is for ever feeling his pulse and whom every whiff of wind throws into a fever of alarm, that grows up to the full stature of the Christian; but the man who, like Paul, has his hands and his heart for ever full, and whose every spiritual fibre gains strength and vitality from his desires and labours for the good of others. And it is with churches as with individuals. An idle church is a stagnant church, prone to strife, and to all morbid experiences. A church that throws itself into the work of faith and labour of love is far more in the way to be spiritually healthy and strong. It was not for the good of the world merely, but of the church herself likewise, that our Lord gave out that magnificent mot d'ordre,—"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."
Before we pass from the inheritance of the sons of
Joseph, it is proper that we should direct attention to
an incident which may seem trifling to us, but which
The question decided by their case was the right of females to inherit property in land when there were no heirs male in the family. We find that the young women themselves had to be champions of their own cause. Evidently possessed of more than ordinary spirit, they had already presented themselves before Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the princes of the congregation, at the door of the tabernacle, and formally made a claim to the inheritance that would have fallen to their father had he been alive. The case was deemed of sufficient importance to be laid before the Lord, because the decision on it would settle similar cases for the whole nation and for all time. The decision was, that in such cases the women should inherit, but under the condition that they should not marry out of their own tribe, so that the property should not be transferred to another tribe. In point of fact, the five sisters married their cousins, and thus kept the property in the tribe of Manasseh.
The incident is interesting, because it shows a larger
regard to the rights of women than was usually
conceded at the time. Some have, indeed, found fault
Certainly it was a considerable advance on the
ordinary practice of the nations. It established the
principle that woman was not a mere chattel, an inferior
creature, subject to the control of the man, with no
rights of her own. But it was far from being the first
time when this principle obtained recognition. The
wives of the patriarchs—Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel—were
neither chattels, nor drudges, nor concubines. They
were ladies, exerting the influence and enjoying the
respect due to cultivated, companionable women. And
though the law of succession did not give the females
of the family equal rights with the males, it recognised
them in another way. While the eldest son succeeded
to the family home and a double portion of
the land, he was expected to make some provision for
his widowed mother and unmarried sisters. In most
cases the sisters came to be provided for by marriage.
No doubt these spirited daughters of Zelophehad conferred a great benefit on their sex in Israel. Their names are entitled to grateful remembrance, as the names of all are who bring about beneficial arrangements that operate in many directions and to all time. Yet one would be sorry to think that this was the only service which they rendered in their day. One would like to think of them as shedding over their households and friends the lustre of those gentle, womanly qualities which are the glory of the sex. Advocacy of public rights may be a high duty, for the faithful discharge of which the highest praise is due; but such a career emits little of the fragrance which radiates from a female life of faithful love, domestic activity, and sacred devotion. What blessed ideals of life Christianity furnishes for women even of middling talent and ordinary education! It is beautiful to see distinguished talents, high gifts, and persuasive elements directed to the advocacy of neglected claims. "And yet I show unto you a more excellent way."
Joshua xviii., xix.
The narrative is very brief, and no reason is given why Shiloh was selected as the religious centre of the nation. We should have thought that the preference would be given to Shechem, a few miles north, in the neighbourhood of Ebal and Gerizim, which had already been consecrated in a sense to God. That Shiloh was chosen by Divine direction we can hardly doubt, although there may have been reasons of various kinds that commended it to Joshua. Josephus says it was selected for the beauty of the situation; but if the present Seilûn denotes its position, as is generally believed, there is not much to corroborate the assertion of Josephus. Its locality is carefully defined in the Book of Judges (xxi. 19),—"on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah." As for its appearance, Dean Stanley says, "Shiloh is so utterly featureless that had it not been for the preservation of its name, Seilûn, and for the extreme precision with which its situation is described in the Book of Judges, the spot could never have been identified; and, indeed, from the time of Jerome till the year 1838 [when Robinson identified it], its real site was completely forgotten." Robinson does not think so poorly of it as Stanley, describing it as "surrounded by hills, and looking out into a beautiful oval basin" ("Biblical Researches," ii. 268).
From the days of Joshua, all through the period
of the Judges, and on to the last days of Eli the high
priest, Shiloh continued to be the abode of the tabernacle,
and the great national sanctuary of Israel.
Here, then, assembled the whole congregation of the children of Israel, to set up the tabernacle, probably with some such rites as David performed when it was transferred from the house of Obed-Edom to Mount Zion. Hitherto it had remained at Gilgal, the headquarters and depôt of the nation. The "whole congregation" that now assembled does not necessarily mean the whole community, but only selected representatives, not only of the part that had been engaged in warfare, but also of the rest of the nation.
If we try to form a picture of the state of Israel
Joshua is old, but his impatience with laziness and
irregularity still gives sharpness to his remonstrance,
"How long are ye slack to possess the land?" The
ring of authority is still in his voice; it still commands
obedience. More than that, the organizing faculty is
still active—the faculty that decides how a thing is to
be done. "Give out from among you three men for
each tribe; and I will send them, and they shall rise
The men are chosen, three from each of the seven tribes that are not yet settled; and they go through and make a survey of the land. Judah and Joseph are not to be disturbed in the settlements that have already been given to them; but the men are to divide the rest of the country into seven parts, and thereafter it is to be determined by lot to which tribe each part shall belong. It would appear that special note was to be taken of the cities, for when the surveyors returned and gave in their report they "described the land by cities into seven parts in a book." Each city had a certain portion of land connected with it, and the land always went with the city. The art of writing was sufficiently practised to enable them to compose what has been called the "Domesday Book" of Canaan, and the record being in writing was a great safeguard against the disputes that might have arisen had so large a report consisted of mere oral statement. When the seven portions had been balloted for, there was no excuse for any of the tribes clinging any longer to that nomad life, for which, while in the wilderness, they seem to have acquired a real love.
And now we come to the actual division. The most
interesting of the tribes yet unsupplied was Benjamin,
and the region that fell to him was interesting too. It
may be remarked as an unusual arrangement, that
when portions were allotted to Judah and to Ephraim,
a space was allowed to remain between them, so that
the northern border of Judah was at some distance
from the southern border of Ephraim. As Judah and
Ephraim were the two leading tribes, and in some
respects rivals, the benefit of this intervening space
Now it was this intervening space that constituted
the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin. For the most
part it consisted of deep ravines running from west to
east, from the central table-land down to the valley
of the Jordan, with mountains between. Many of its
cities were perched high in the mountains, as is shown
by the commonness of the names Gibeon, Gibeah,
Geba, or Gaba, all of which signify "hill"; while
Ramah is a "high place," and Mizpeh a "tower." In
the wilderness, Benjamin had marched along with
Ephraim and Manasseh, all the descendants of Joseph
forming a united company; and after the settlement
Benjamin naturally inclined towards fellowship with
these tribes. But, as events went on, he came more
into fellowship with the tribe of Judah, and though
Saul, Shimei, and Sheba, the bitterest enemies of the
house of David, were all Benjamites, yet, when the
separation of the two kingdoms took place under
Rehoboam, Benjamin took the side of Judah (
The cities of Benjamin included several of the most
famous. Among them was Jericho, the rebuilding
of which as a fortified place had been forbidden,
but which was still in some degree inhabited; Bethel,
which was already very famous in the history, but
which, after the separation of the kingdoms, was taken
possession of by Jeroboam, and made the shrine of his
Benjamin was counted the least of the tribes (
Many famous battles were fought on the soil of
Benjamin. The battle of Ai; that of Gibeon, followed
Even down to New Testament times, as Dean
Stanley remarks, the influence of Benjamin remained,
for the name of Saul, the king whom Benjamin gave
to the nation, was preserved in Hebrew families;
and when a far greater of that name appeals to his
descent, or to the past history of his nation, a glow of
satisfaction is visible in the marked emphasis with
which he alludes to "the stock of Israel, the tribe of
Benjamin" (
There is little to be said of Simeon, the second of
the seven that drew his lot. It is admitted that his
portion was taken out of the first allotment to Judah
(ver. 9), which was found to be larger than that tribe
required, and many of his cities are contained in Judah's
list. One act of valour is recorded of Simeon in the
first chapter of Judges; after the first settlement, he
responded to the appeal of Judah and accompanied him
against the Canaanites. But the history of this tribe
as a whole might be written in the words of Jacob's
prophecy—"I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter
them in Israel." There is no historical reason for
the supposition of Wellhausen that Simeon and Levi
were all but annihilated on occasion of their attack on
the Canaanites. If Simeon had been virtually extinguished,
it would not have had a territory assigned to
it in the ideal division of the country by Ezekiel
(xlviii. 24), nor would it have afforded the twelve
thousand of the "sealed" in the symbolical vision of
St. John (
Next came the tribe of Zebulun, the boundaries of
which are given with much precision; but as most of the
names are now unknown, and there are also appearances
of imperfection in the text, the delineation cannot be
followed. "The brook that is before Jokneam" is
Issachar occupied an interesting and important site.
Jezreel, the first name in the definition of its boundaries,
is also the most famous. Jezreel, now represented by
Zerin, was situated on a lofty height, and gave name
to the whole valley around. Here Ahab had his palace
in the days of Elijah. By its association with the
worship of Baal, Jezreel got a bad reputation, and in
the prophet Hosea degenerate Israel is called Jezreel, a
name somewhat similar, but with very different associations
(chap. i. 4). Shunem was the place of encampment
of the Philistine army before the battle of Gilboa,
and also the residence of the woman whose son Elisha
restored to life. Bethshemesh must not be confounded
with the town of the same name in Judah, nor with
that in the tribe of Naphtali. Signifying "house of the
sun," it was a very common name among the Canaanites,
Asher also had an interesting territory. Theoretically it extended from Carmel to Sidon, embracing the whole of the Phœnician strip; but practically it did not reach so far. Naphtali was adjacent to Asher, and had the Jordan and the lakes of Merom and Galilee for its eastern boundary. It is in the New Testament that Naphtali enjoys its greatest distinction, the lake of Galilee and the towns on its banks, so conspicuous in the gospel history, having been situated there.
These northern tribes, as is well known, constituted
the district of Galilee. The contrast between its early
insignificance and its later glory is well brought out in
the Revised Version of
Dan was the last tribe whose lot was drawn. And
it really seemed as if the least desirable of all the
portions fell to him. He was hemmed in between
Judah on the one hand and the Philistines on the
other, and the Philistines were anything but comfortable
neighbours. The best part of the level land was
no doubt in their hands, and Dan was limited to what
lay at the base of the mountains (see
The division of the country was now completed,
save that one individual was still unprovided for. And
that was Joshua himself. As in a shipwreck, the
captain is the last to leave the doomed vessel, so here
the leader of the nation was the last to receive a
portion. With rare self-denial he waited till every
one else was provided for. Here we have a glimpse
of his noble spirit. That there would be much
grumbling over the division of the country, he no
doubt counted inevitable, and that the people would
be disposed to come with their complaints to him
followed as matter of course. See how he circumvents
them! Whoever might be disposed to go to him
complaining of his lot, knew the ready answer he
would get—you are not worse off than I am, for as
yet I have got none! Joshua was content to see the
fairest inheritances disposed of to others, while as yet
none had been allotted to him. When, last of all, his
turn did come, his request was a modest one—"They
gave him the city that he asked, even Timnath-serah
in the hill country of Ephraim." He might have
asked for an inheritance in the fertile and beautiful
vale of Shechem, consecrated by one of the earliest
promises to Abraham, near to Jacob's well and his
ancestor Joseph's tomb, or under shadow of the two
mountains, Ebal and Gerizim, where so solemn a
transaction had taken place after his people entered
the land. He asks for nothing of the kind, but for
Could it have been that it was a farm rejected by every one else? that the head of the nation was content with what no one else would have? If it was so, how must this have exalted Joshua in the eyes of his countrymen, and how well fitted it is to exalt him in ours! Whether it was a portion that every one else had despised or not, it undoubtedly was comparatively a poor and far-off inheritance. His choice of it was a splendid rebuke to the grumbling of his tribe, to the pride and selfishness of the "great people" who would not be content with a single lot, and wished an additional one to be assigned to them. "Up with you to the mountain" was Joshua's spirited reply; "cut down the wood, and drive out the Canaanites!"
And Joshua was not the man to give a prescription
to others that he was not prepared to take to himself.
Up to the mountain he certainly did go; and as he
was now too old to fight, he quite probably spent his
last years in clearing his lot, cutting down timber, and
laboriously preparing the soil for crops. In any case,
he set a splendid example of disinterested humility.
He showed himself the worthy successor of Moses,
who had never hinted at any distinction for his family
or any possession in the country beyond what might
Joshua XX.
These frequent references do not prevent modern critics from
affirming that the cities of refuge were no part of the Mosaic legislation.
They found this view upon the absence throughout the history of all
reference to them as being in actual use. They were not instituted,
it is said, till after the Exile. But the very test that rejects them
from the early legislation fails here. There is no reference to them
as actually occupied in the post-exilian books, amounting, as these
are said to do, to half the Old Testament. Their occupation, it is said,
with the other Levitical cities, was postponed to the time of Messiah.
The shifts to which the critics are put in connection with this
institution do not merely indicate a weak point in their theory; they
show also how precarious is the position that when you do not hear
of an institution as in actual operation you may conclude that it was
of later date.
Little needs to be said on the particular cities
selected, except that they were conveniently dispersed
1. The first thought that naturally occurs to us when
we read of these cities concerns the sanctity of human
life; or, if we take the material symbol, the preciousness
of human blood. God wished to impress on His
people that to put an end to a man's life under any
circumstances, was a serious thing. Man was something
higher than the beasts that perish. To end a
human career; to efface by one dread act all the joys
of a man's life, all his dreams and hopes of coming
good; to snap all the threads that bound him to his
fellows, perhaps to bring want into the homes and
desolation into the hearts of all who loved him or
leant on him—this, even if done unintentionally, was
a very serious thing. To mark this in a very emphatic
way was the purpose of these cities of refuge. Though
in certain respects (as we shall see) the practice of
It is not a very pleasing feature of the Hebrew
economy that this regard to the sanctity of human life
was limited to members of the Hebrew nation. All
outside the Hebrew circle were treated as little better
than the beasts that perish. For Canaanites there was
nothing but indiscriminate slaughter. Even in the
times of King David we find a barbarity in the treatment
of enemies that seems to shut out all sense of
brotherhood, and to smother all claim to compassion.
We have here a point in which even the Hebrew race
were still far behind. They had not come under the
influence of that blessed Teacher who taught us to love
our enemies. They had no sense of the obligation
2. Even as apportioned to the Hebrew people, there
was still an uncivilized element in the arrangements
connected with these cities of refuge. This lay in
the practice of making the go-el, or nearest of kin,
the avenger of blood. The moment a man's blood
was shed, the nearest relative became responsible for
avenging it. He felt himself possessed by a spirit of
retribution, which demanded, with irrepressible urgency,
the blood of the man who had killed his relation. It
was an unreasoning, restless spirit, making no allowance
for the circumstances in which the blood was shed,
seeing nothing and knowing nothing save that his relative
had been slain, and that it was his duty, at the earliest
possible moment, to have blood for blood. Had the
law been perfect, it would have simply handed over
the killer to the magistrate, whose duty would have
been calmly to investigate the case, and either punish
or acquit, according as he should find that the man had
committed a crime or had caused a misfortune. But,
as we have seen, it was characteristic of the Hebrew
legislation that it adapted itself to the condition of
things which it found, and not to an ideal perfection
which the people were not capable of at once realizing.
In the office of the go-el there was much that was of
wholesome tendency. The feeling was deeply rooted
in the Hebrew mind that the nearest of kin was the
3. The course to be followed by the involuntary
manslayer was very minutely prescribed. He was
to hurry with all speed to the nearest city of refuge,
and stand at the entering of the gate till the elders
assembled, and then to declare his cause in their ears.
If he failed to establish his innocence, he got no protection;
but if he made out his case he was free from
the avenger of blood, so long as he remained within
the city or its precincts. If, however, he wandered
out, he was at the mercy of the avenger. Further,
he was to remain in the city till the death of the high
priest. Some have sought a mystical meaning in this
last regulation, as if the high priest figured the Redeemer,
and the death of the high priest the completion of
4. As it was, the involuntary manslayer had thus
to undergo a considerable penalty. Having to reside
in the city of refuge, he could no longer cultivate his
farm or follow his ordinary avocations; he must have
found the means of living in some new employment
as best he could. His friendships, his whole associations
in life, were changed; perhaps he was even
separated from his family. To us all this appears a
harder line than justice would have prescribed. But,
on the one hand, it was a necessary testimony to the
strong, though somewhat unreasonable feeling respecting
the awfulness, through whatever cause, of shedding
innocent blood. A man had to accept of this quietly,
just as many a man has to accept the consequences—the
social outlawry, it may be, and other penalties—of
having had a father of bad character, or of having been
present in the company of wicked men when some evil
deed was done by them. Then, on the other hand,
the fact that the involuntary destruction of life was
sure, even at the best, to be followed by such consequences,
was fitted to make men very careful. They
would naturally endeavour to the utmost to guard
against an act that might land them in such a
situation; and thus the ordinary operations of daily
life would be rendered more secure. And perhaps
it was in this way that the whole appointment secured
The desire for vengeance is a very strong feeling
of human nature. Nor is it a feeling that soon dies
out; it has been known to live, and to live keenly and
earnestly, even for centuries. We talk of ancient barbarism;
but even in comparatively modern times the
story of its deeds is appalling. Witness its operation
in the island of Corsica. The historian Filippini says
that in thirty years of his own time 28,000 Corsicans
had been murdered out of revenge. Another historian
calculates that the number of the victims of the Vendetta
from 1359 to 1729 was 330,000. Gregorovius, "Wanderings in Corsica." "Pulpit Comment.," in loco.
In New Testament times the practice that committed
the avenging of blood to the nearest of kin seems to
have fallen into abeyance. No such keen desire for
revenge was prevalent then. Such cases as those now
provided for were doubtless dealt with by the ordinary
magistrate. And thus our Lord could grapple directly
with the spirit of revenge and retaliation in all its manifestations.
"Ye have heard that it was said of old time,
An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth; but I say
unto you, Resist not him that is evil; but whosoever
smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other
also" (R.V.). The old practice was hurtful, because,
even in cases where punishment was deserved, it made
vengeance or retribution so much a matter of personal
The attempt to find in the cities of refuge a typical
representation of the great salvation fails at every point
but one. The safety that was found in the refuge
corresponds to the safety that is found in Christ. But
even in this point of view the city of refuge rather
affords an illustration than constitutes a type. The
benefit of the refuge was only for unintentional offences;
the salvation of Christ is for all. What Christ saves
from is not our misfortune but our guilt. The protection
of the city was needed only till the death of the
high priest; the protection of Christ is needed till the
great public acquittal. All that the manslayer received
in the city was safety; but from Christ there is a
constant flow of higher and holier blessings. His
name is called Jesus because He saves His people from
their sins. Not merely from the penalty, but from the
sins themselves. It is His high office not only to atone
for sin, but to destroy it. "If the Son makes you free,
ye shall be free indeed." The virtue that goes out of
Him comes into contact with the lust itself and transforms
it. The final benefit of Christ is the blessing of
In turning an incident like this to account, as bearing on our modern life, we are led to think how much harm we are liable to do to others without intending harm, and how deeply we ought to be affected by this consideration, when we discover what we have really done. We may be helped here by thinking of the case of St. Paul. What harm he did in the unconverted period of his life, without intending to do harm, cannot be calculated. But when he came to the light, nothing could have exceeded the depth of his contrition, and, to his last hour, he could not think of the past without horror. It was his great joy to know that his Lord had pardoned him, and that he had been able to find one good use of the very enormity of his conduct—to show the exceeding riches of His pardoning love. But, all his life long, the Apostle was animated by an overwhelming desire to neutralise, as far as he could, the mischief of his early life, and very much of the self-denial and contempt of ease that continued to characterise him was due to this vehement feeling. For though Paul felt that he had done harm in ignorance, and for this cause had obtained mercy, he did not consider that his ignorance excused him altogether. It was an ignorance that proceeded from culpable causes, and that involved effects from which a rightly ordered heart could not but recoil.
In the case of His own murderers our blessed
Lord, in His beautiful prayer, recognised a double condition,—they
were ignorant, yet they were guilty,
And where is the man—parent, teacher, pastor, or
friend—that does not become conscious, at some time
or other, of having influenced for harm those committed
to his care? We taught them, perhaps, to
despise some good man whose true worth we have
afterwards been led to see. We repressed their zeal
when we thought it misdirected, with a force which
chilled their enthusiasm and carnalised their hearts.
We failed to stimulate them to decision for Christ, and
allowed the golden opportunity to pass which might
have settled their relation to God all the rest of their
life. The great realities of the spiritual life were not
It is here that the blessed Lord presents Himself to us in a most blessed light. "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Do we not labour indeed, are we not in truth very heavy laden, when we feel the burden of unintentional evil, when we feel that unconsciously we have been doing hurt to others, and incurring the curse of him who causeth the blind to stumble? Are we not heavy laden indeed when we cannot be sure that even yet we are thoroughly on the right track—when we feel that peradventure we are still unconsciously continuing the mischief in some other form? Yet is not the promise true?—"I will give you rest." I will give you pardon for the past, and guidance for the future. I will deliver you from the feeling that you have been all your life sowing seeds of mischief, sure to spring up and pervert those whom you love most dearly. I will give you comfort in the thought that as I have guided you, I will guide them, and you shall have a vision of the future, that may no doubt include some of the terrible features of the shipwreck of St. Paul, but of which the end will be the same—" and so it came to pass that they escaped all safe to land."
And let us learn a lesson of charity. Let us learn
So also with regard to opinions. Many who differ
from us in religious opinion differ through ignorance.
They have inherited their opinions from their parents
or their other ancestors. Their views are shared by
nearly all whom they love and with whom they associate;
they are contained in their familiar books; they
are woven into the web of their daily life. If they
were better instructed, if their minds were more free
from prejudice, they might agree with us more. Let
us make for them the allowance of ignorance, and let
us make it not bitterly but respectfully. They are
doing much mischief, it may be. They are retarding
the progress of beneficent truth; they are thwarting
your endeavours to spread Divine light. But they are
doing it ignorantly. If you are not called to provide
for them a city of refuge, cover them at least with the
mantle of charity. Believe that their intentions are
better than their acts. Live in the hope of a day
Joshua xxi. 1-42.
In the days of the patriarchs and during the sojourn
in Egypt there were no official priests. Each head
of a house discharged the duties of the priesthood in
patriarchal times, and a similar arrangement prevailed
during the residence in Egypt. The whole nation was
holy; in this sense it was a nation of priests; all were
set apart for the service of God. By-and-by it pleased
God to select a portion of the nation specially for His
service, to establish, as it were, a holy of holies within
the consecrated nation. The first intimation of this
was given on that awful occasion when the firstborn
of the Egyptians was slain. In token of His mercy in
sparing Israel on that night, all the firstborn of Israel,
both of man and beast, were specially consecrated to
Certainly we should not have thought beforehand
that the descendants of Levi would be the specially
sacred tribe. Levi himself comes before us in the
patriarchal history in no attractive light. He and
Simeon were associated together in that massacre of
the Shechemites, which we can never read of without
horror (
The first honour conferred on Levi in connection
with religious service was the appointment of Aaron
and his sons to the special service of the priesthood
(
The tribe of Levi consisted of three main branches,
corresponding to Levi's three sons—Kohath, Gershon,
and Merari. The Kohathites, though apparently not the
oldest (see
Many of the duties of the Levites as detailed in
the Pentateuch were duties for the wilderness. After
the settlement in Canaan, and the establishment of the
The functions of the Levites throughout the country
seem to have differed somewhat in successive periods
of their history. Here, as in other matters, there was
doubtless some development, according as new wants
appeared in the spiritual condition of the people, and
consequently new obligations for the Levites to fulfil.
But let us now turn our attention to the distribution
of the Levites as it was planned. We say deliberately
"as it was planned," because there is every reason to
believe that the plan was not effectually carried out.
In no case does there seem to have been such a failure
The provision made by Joshua for the Levites was
that out of all the other tribes, forty-eight cities with
their suburbs, including the six cities of refuge, were
allotted to them. It is necessary for us here to call
to mind how much Canaan, like other Eastern countries
and some countries not Eastern, was a land of towns
and villages. Cottages and country-houses standing
by themselves were hardly known. A house in its
own grounds—"a lodge in a garden of cucumbers"—might
shelter a man for a time, but could not be
his permanent home. The country was too liable to
hostile raids for its inhabitants to dwell thus unprotected.
Most of the people had their homes in the towns and
villages with which their fields were connected. In
consequence of this each town had a circuit of land
around it, which always fell to the conquerors when
the town was taken. And it is this fact that sometimes
makes the boundaries of the tribes so difficult to follow,
because these boundaries had to embrace all the lands
connected with the cities which they embraced. If it
be asked, Did the Levites receive as part of their
inheritance all the lands adjacent to their cities, the
answer is, No. For in that case the only difference
The cities given to the Levites, even when cleared
of Canaanites, were not possessed by Levites alone.
We may gather the normal state of affairs from what
is said regarding Hebron and Caleb. Hebron was a
Levitical city, a city of the priests, a city of refuge;
they gave to the Kohathites the city, with the suburbs
thereof roundabout; "but the fields of the city, and
the villages thereof, gave they to Caleb the son of
Jephunneh for his possession" (vv. 11, 12). What are
called "suburbs," or, as some prefer to render, "cattle-drives,"
extended for two thousand cubits round about
the city on every side (
In fact, the whole function of the Levites, ideally at least, was as Moses sung:—
But to come now to the division itself. The Kohathites, or leading family, had no fewer than thirteen cities in the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Simeon, and ten more in Ephraim, Dan, and Manasseh. The thirteen in Judah, Benjamin, and Simeon were for the priests; the other ten were for the other branches of the Kohathites. At first the priests, strictly so called, could not occupy them all. But, as the history advances, the priests become more and more prominent, while the Levites as such seem to hold a less and less conspicuous place. In the Psalms, for example, we sometimes find the house of Levi left out when all classes of worshippers are called on to praise the Lord. In the 135th Psalm all are included:—
But in the 115th the Levites are left out:—
And in the 118th:—
There is this to be said for the region where the priests, the house of Aaron, had their cities, viz., the tribe of Judah, that it maintained its integrity longest of any; nor did it thoroughly succumb to idolatry till the dark days of Manasseh, one of its later kings. But, on the other hand, in New Testament times, Judæa was the most bigoted part of the country, and the most bitterly opposed to our Lord. And the explanation is, that the true spirit of Divine service had utterly evaporated from among the priesthood, and the miserable spirit of formalism had come in. The living sap of the institution had been turned into stone, and the plant of renown of early days had become a stony fossil. So true is it that the best institutions, when perverted from their true end, become the sources of greatest evil, and the highest gifts of heaven, when seized by the devil and turned to his purposes, become the most efficient instruments of hell.
The other portions of the family of Kohath were
distributed in ten cities over the central part of
Western Palestine. Some of them were important
centres of influence, such as Bethhoron, Shechem, and
Taanach. But the influence of the Levites for good
seems to have been feeble in this region, for it was
here that Jeroboam reigned, and here that Ahab and
Jezebel all but obliterated the worship of Jehovah. Ramathaim and Ramah are used interchangeably (
The Gershonites were placed in cities in eastern
Manasseh, Issachar, Asher, and Naphtali; while the
Merarites were in Zebulun, and in the transjordanic
tribes of Gad and Reuben. They thus garrisoned the
northern and eastern districts. Those placed in the
north ought to have been barriers against the gross
idolatry of Tyre and Sidon, and those in the east,
besides resisting the idolatry of the desert tribes, should
have held back that of Damascus and Syria. But there
is very little to show that the Levites as a whole rose
to the dignity of their mission in these regions, or that
they formed a very efficient barrier against the idolatry
and corruption which they were designed to meet.
No doubt they did much to train the people to the
outward observance of the law. They would call them
to the celebration of the great annual festivals, and
And, whatever may have been the usual life and
work of the Levites over the country, they never seem
to have realized the glory of the distinction divinely
accorded to them—"The Lord is their inheritance."
Few, indeed, in any age or country have come to
know what is meant by having God for their portion.
Unbelief can never grasp that there is a life in God—a
real life, so full of enjoyment that all other happiness
may be dispensed with; a real property, so rich in
every blessing, that the goods and chattels of this
world are mere shadows in comparison. Yet that
there have been men profoundly impressed by these
convictions, in all ages and in many lands, amid prevailing
ungodliness, cannot be denied. How otherwise
is such a life as that of St. Bernard or that of St. Francis
to be accounted for? Or that of St. Columba and the
missionaries of Iona? Or, to go farther back, that of
St. Paul? There is a magic virtue, or rather a Divine
power, in real consecration. "Them that honour Me, I
will honour." It is the want of such men that makes
Note.—In this chapter we have accepted the statements of the Pentateuch regarding the Levites as they stand. We readily own that there are difficulties not a few connected with the received view. The modern critical theory that maintains that the Levitical order was a much later institution would no doubt remove many of these difficulties, but only by creating other difficulties far more serious. Besides, the hypothesis of Wellhausen that the tribe of Levi was destroyed with Simeon at the invasion of Canaan—having no foundation to rest on, except the assumption that the prophecy ascribed to Jacob was written at a later date—is ludicrously inadequate to sustain the structure made to rest on it. Nor is it conceivable that, after the captivity, the priests should have been able to make the people believe a totally different account of the history of one of the tribes from that which had previously been received. It is likewise incredible that the Levites should have been "annihilated" or "extinguished" in the days of Joshua, without a single allusion in the history to so terrible a fact. How inconsistent with the concern expressed when the tribe of Benjamin was in danger of extinction (
Judg. xxi. 17 ). The loss of a tribe was like the loss of a limb; it would have marred essentially the symmetry of the nation.
Joshua xxi. 43-45.
The historian sees the venerable patriarch of the nation among his flocks and herds in Ur of the Chaldees; receiving there a Divine summons to remove to an unknown land; obeying the call, tarrying at Haran, then traversing the desert, and crossing the Jordan. At Shechem, at Bethel, at Mamre, and at Beersheba, he perceives him listening to the Divine voice that promises that, stranger and pilgrim though he was, the Lord would give his posterity all that land; that he would bless those that blessed him, and curse those that cursed him; and that in him and in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed.
For one hundred long years Abraham had wandered
over the country without so much as a house or
homestead in it. Isaac had come after him, living the
same pilgrim life. Jacob, with a much more stirring
and troubled life, had in his old age gone down to
Then came the long centuries of Egyptian bondage. At last the Divine call is heard to leave Egypt, but after this, forty long years have still to be spent in the wilderness. Then Moses, the great leader of the people, dies—dies at the very time when he is apparently most needed, just at the very crisis of Israel's history.
But Joshua comes in Moses' room, and the Lord is with Joshua; He rewards his faith and gives him victory over all his enemies. And now at last comes the fulfilment of the promises to the fathers, hoary with age, and seemingly long forgotten. The bill has at last matured and fallen due. After so many generations, it might be thought that it would have been enough to discharge the main substance of the obligation or that some compromise might have been proposed reducing the claim. After having lain long out of their money, creditors are usually ready to accept a composition. But this was not God's method of settlement. During the whole period of Joshua's leadership, God had been doing nothing but discharging old obligations. Not one word of the original bill had been obliterated; not one item had been allowed to lapse through time. East and west and north and south He had been giving what He had promised to give. And now, as the transaction comes to an end, it is seen that nothing has been omitted or forgotten. "There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken concerning Israel; all came to pass." He proved Himself, as Moses had said, "the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him, and keep His commandments to a thousand generations."
Three gifts are specified which God bestowed on Israel: possession, rest, and victory. First, He gave them the land which He had sworn to give unto their fathers, and they possessed it; next, He gave them rest round about, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers; and, lastly, He gave them victory over all their enemies. "He satisfied the longing soul, and filled the hungry soul with goodness." He brought His bride to her home, and surrounded her with comforts. And had the bride only been as faithful to her obligations as the Divine bridegroom, it might have been said that
"Time had run back, and fetched the age of gold."
But, it may perhaps be said,—this is only the
historian's view of the matter, and it is hardly in
accordance with facts. Are we not told that, at an
early period, a colony of the tribe of Dan had to go
elsewhere in search of land, because they were too
hampered in the allotment they had received? And,
in the beginning of Judges, are we not told that after
the death of Joshua, Judah and Simeon had a desperate
tussle with Canaanites and Perizzites who were still
in their territories, and that in Bezek alone there were
slain of them ten thousand men? And is not the
whole of the first chapter of Judges a record of the
relations of Israel in various places to the original
inhabitants, from which it appears that very many of
the Canaanites continued to dwell in the land? Surely
this was not what God's promise to the fathers was
fitted to convey. Had not God promised that He
would "drive out" the seven nations, and give the
seed of Abraham possession of the whole? How then
could His word be said to be implemented when so
In answer to this objection it is to be remarked that
God had never promised to give the people full possession
of the land save through their own exertions made
in dependence on Him. Their possessions were not to
fall into their hands as the manna fell in the wilderness
or as the water gushed from the rock. The seven
nations were not to rush from before them the moment
they crossed the Jordan. God always meant that they
were to be His instruments for clearing the country.
Now, that clearance was evidently designed to be
effected in two ways. First, under Joshua, a general
encounter with the former possessors was to take
place, their confederacies were to be shattered, their
spirit was to be broken, and to a certain extent their
lands were to be set free. But beyond this, there was
to be a further process of clearing out. When each
tribe was settled in its lot, it was to address itself, in
detail, to the task of dispossessing such Canaanites as
yet lingered there. It might not be expedient that all
should be engaged in this task together, for this would
necessarily interfere with the ordinary operations of
agriculture. It was judged better that it should be done
piecemeal, and therefore God was asked to say which
of the tribes ought to begin it. Judah was named, and
Judah aided by Simeon did his work well, and set a
good example to the rest. But the other tribes did
not act with Judah's spirit, and therefore they did not
enjoy his reward. The testimony of the historian is,
that nothing failed of any good thing which the Lord
Certainly God had furnished His people with the
materials for a happy and prosperous life, if only they
had used them aright. There was first the element of
possessions. They had comfortable homes and all the
requisites of a comfortable life. It is most true that
"a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the
things which he possesseth." But moderate possessions
This was a blessed presage for the future. Whatever encounters might yet remain, they might count on the same result, if they lifted up their eyes to God. Their life in the future would not be without toil, without anxiety, without danger. But if they looked to Him and made the requisite efforts, God was ready to bless their toil, He was able to overcome their anxieties, He was sure as in the past to subdue their enemies. The gifts that God had conferred on them, and the materials of enjoyment with which He had surrounded them, were not designed to make them independent, as if they could now do everything for themselves. God's purpose was the very reverse. He wished to keep up the sense of dependence on Him, and to encourage at every turn the habit that seeks unto God, and goes to Him for help.
For this, after all, is the great lesson for all human
beings. The great thing for us all is to keep up a
There is no small amount of instruction to be drawn by all of us from this record of Israel's experience.
First, it is of supreme importance for us all to have
our hearts firmly established in the conviction of the
faithfulness of God. It should be our habit to regard
this as an attribute on which we not only may, but
must rely. To ascribe to God any laxity as to His
word or promises were to cast a fearful imputation on
His holy nature. "Heaven and earth shall pass away,
but My word shall not pass away." "He is not a man
But secondly, we may learn from this passage that,
wherever the promises of God seem to fail, the fault is
not His, but ours. On the one hand, we are taught
clearly that delay is not failure, and on the other that
where there does seem to be failure there is none
really on the part of God. At least five-and-twenty
long years elapsed between God's first promise to
Abraham and the birth of Isaac. Four hundred years
were to be spent by the chosen seed in bondage in
Egypt. And even after the deliverance from Egypt
there came the sojourn in the wilderness of other forty
years. Yet God was faithful all the time. How often
Perhaps it is in the matter of answers to prayer that
we are most liable to the temptation that God forgets
His promises. Have we not the most explicit and
abundant promises that prayer will be answered?
Yet how many have prayed, and seemingly prayed in
vain! Nay, does not the very opposite of what we
pray for often come? We entreat God to spare a
beloved life; that life is taken away. We pray for
victory over temptation; the temptation seems to
acquire a redoubled force. We pray for success in
business; the clouds seem to thicken the more. We
ask, "Has God forgotten to be gracious? Is His
mercy clean gone for ever? Does His promise fail
for evermore?" Nay, let us rally our faith. "Then I
said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years
of the right hand of the Most High" (
It is the happy experience both of individuals and
the Church to have occasional periods of fulfilment—it
may be after long periods of expectation and trial. The
patriarch Job had a terrible time of trial, when God
seemed so untrue to His promises that he was sometimes
on the very edge of blaspheming His name. But
a time of fulfilment came at last, and through all the
mystery of the past Job at length saw "the end of the
Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy"
(
And then at last will come the end of the mystery. The Lord shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from the one end of heaven to the other. On the sea of glass mingled with fire they take their stand, having the harps of God, and sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: "Great and marvellous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints." What a scene and what a sensation! What joy in entering on possession of the Promised Land, in experiencing the rest of the redeemed, and in the consciousness that not a single enemy survives to annoy! What delight in the harmonious working of the new nature, in the free and happy play of all its faculties and feelings, and in the conscious presence of a God and Saviour to whose image you have been thoroughly conformed! The last shadow that dimmed your vision on earth shall have fled away; the last vestige of complaint of your earthly lot shall have vanished. Whatever you may have thought once, no other feeling will now occupy your heart but gratitude to Him who has not only not failed to fulfil all His promises, but has done in you exceeding abundantly above all that ye could ask or think!
Joshua xxii.
In sending away the two tribes and a half Joshua pressed two counsels on them. One was that they were to divide the spoil with those of their brethren that had remained at home. Here, again, selfishness might possibly have found a footing. Why should the men that had incurred none of the labour and the peril enjoy any of the spoil? Would it not have been fair that those who had borne the burden and heat of the day should alone enjoy its rewards? But, in point of fact, there had been good reason why a portion should remain at home. To leave the women and children wholly undefended would have been recklessness itself. Some arrangement, too, had to be made for looking after the flocks and herds. And as the supply of manna had ceased, the production of food had to be provided for. The men at home had been doing the duty assigned to them as well as the men abroad. If they could not establish a claim in justice to a share of the spoil, the spirit of brotherhood and generosity pleaded on their behalf. The soldier-section of the two and a half tribes had done their part honourably and generously to the nine and a half; let them act in the same spirit to their own brethren. Let them share in the good things which they had brought home, so that a spirit of joy and satisfaction might be diffused throughout the community, and the welcome given to those who had been absent might be cordial and complete, without one trace of discontent or envy.
Occasions may occur still on which this counsel of Joshua may come in very suitably. It does not always happen that brothers or near relatives who have prospered abroad are very mindful of those whom they have left at home. They like to enjoy their abundance, and if the case of their poor relations comes across their minds, they dismiss it with the thought that men's lots must differ, and that they are not going to lose all the benefit of their success by supporting other families besides their own. Yet, how much good might accrue from a little generosity, though it were but an occasional gift, towards those who are straitened? And how much better it would be to kindle by this means a thankful and kindly feeling, than to have envy and jealousy rankling in their hearts!
The other counsel of Joshua bore upon that which
was ever uppermost in his heart—loyalty to God.
"Take diligent heed to do the commandment and the
law, which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you,
to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all His ways,
and to keep all His commandments, and to cleave unto
Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with
all your soul." It is evident that Joshua poured his
whole heart into this counsel. He was evidently
anxious as to the effect which their separation from
their brethren would have on their religious condition.
It was west of the Jordan that the sanctuary had been
placed, and that the great central influence in support of
the national worship would mainly operate. Would not
these eastern tribes be in great danger of drifting away
from the recognised worship of God, and becoming
idolaters? Joshua knew well that as yet the nation
was far from being weaned from idolatry (see xxiv. 14).
He knew that among many there were strong propensities
We cannot tell how long time had elapsed when word was brought to the western side that the two and a half tribes had built a great altar on the edge of Jordan, apparently as a rival to the ecclesiastical establishment at Shiloh. That this was their intention seems to have been taken for granted, for we find the congregation or general assembly of Israel assembled at Shiloh to prepare for war with the schismatical tribes. War had evidently become a familiar idea with them, and at first no other course suggested itself for arresting the proposal. It was one of the many occasions of unreasoning impetuosity which the history of Israel presents.
No mention is made of Joshua in the narrative of this transaction; he had retired from active life, and perhaps what is here recorded did not take place for a considerable time after the return of the two and a half tribes. It may be that we have here an instance of the method so often pursued in Hebrew annals, of recording together certain incidents pertaining to the same transaction, or to the same people, though these incidents were separated from each other by a considerable interval of time.
It was well that the congregation assembled at Shiloh.
They would be reminded by the very place that great
A deputation was sent over, consisting of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, as representing the religious interest, and ten princes, representing the ten tribes, to have an interview with the heads of the two and a half tribes. When they met, the deputation opened very fiercely on their brethren. They charged them with unheard-of wickedness. What they had done was a daring act of rebellion. It was worthy to be classed with the iniquity of Peor—one of the vilest deeds that ever disgraced the nation. It was fitted to bring down God's judgments on the whole nation, and would certainly do so. If the secret act of Achan involved the congregation in wrath, what calamity to the whole people would not result from this daring and open deed of rebellion? They were not safe for a single day. The vials of the Divine wrath could not but be ready, and in twenty-four hours the whole congregation of Israel might be overwhelmed by the tokens of His displeasure.
One should have said that if anything was fitted to
have a bad effect on the two and a half tribes, it was
this mode of dealing. It is not wise to assume that
your brother is a villain. And scolding, as has been
Here was a generous, a self-denying proposal; the ten tribes were some of them in straits themselves, finding the room available for them far too narrow; nevertheless they were prepared to divide what they had with their brethren, if their real feeling was that the east side of the Jordan was outside the hallowed and hallowing influence of the presence of the Lord.
Instead, therefore, of firing up the fierce reproof of
their brethren, the two and a half tribes were softened
by this really kind proposal and returned a reassuring
answer. They solemnly repudiated all idea of a rival
establishment. They knew that there was but one
place where the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant
could be, and they had not the remotest intention of
interfering with the spot that had been chosen for that
purpose. They had never entertained the thought of
offering burnt offerings, or meat offerings, or peace
offerings on their altar. They solemnly abjured all
intention to show disrespect to the Lord, or to His
law. The altar which they had built had a very
different purpose. It was occasioned by the physical
structure of the country, and the effect which that
might have on their children in years to come. "In
time to come your children might speak unto our
children, saying, What have ye to do with the Lord
The acquaintance with the physical structure of
Palestine which we have obtained in recent years
enables us to appreciate the feeling of the two and a
half tribes better than could have been done before.
The mere fact that a river separated the east from
the west of Palestine would not have been enough to
account for the sense of isolation and the fear thence
arising which had taken hold of the heads of the two
and a half tribes. It is the peculiar structure of the
valley in which the river runs that explains the story.
The Jordan valley, as has already been mentioned,
is depressed below the level of the Mediterranean Sea,
the depression increasing gradually as the river flows
towards the Dead Sea, where it amounts to 1300 feet.
In addition to this, the mountainous plateau on each
side of the Jordan valley rises to the height of 2000 or
2500 feet above the sea, so that the entire depression,
counting from the top of the plateau to the edge of the
river, is between three and four thousand feet. On
each side the approach to the Jordan is difficult, while,
during the warm season, the great heat increases the
But who can estimate all the misery that has come
in almost every age, in circles both public and private,
from hasty suspicions of evil, which a little patience,
a little inquiry, a little opportunity of explanation, might
have at once averted? History, tradition, fiction, alike
furnish us with instances. We recall the story of
Llewellyn and his dog Gelert, stabbed by his master,
who thought the stains upon his mouth were the blood
of his beloved child; while, on raising the cradle which
had been turned over, he found his child asleep and
well, and a huge wolf dead, from whose fangs the
dog had delivered him. We remember the tragedy of
Othello and Desdemona; we see how the fondest love
may be poisoned by hasty suspicion, and the dearest
of wives murdered, when a little patience would have
shown her innocent—shown her all too pure to come
in contact with even a vestige of the evil thing. We
think of the many stories of crusaders and others
The explanation that had been offered by Reuben,
Gad, and Manasseh proved satisfactory to Phinehas and
the princes of the congregation, and likewise to the
people of the west generally, when the deputation
reported their proceedings. The remark of Phinehas
before he left his eastern brethren was a striking one:
"This day do we perceive that the Lord is among us,
because ye have not committed this trespass against
the Lord; now ye have delivered the children of Israel
Perhaps the common adage might have been applied
to the case—that there were faults on both sides. If
the ten tribes were too hasty in preparing for war,
the two and a half tribes had been too hasty in deciding
on the erection of their altar, without communication
with the priests and the civil heads of the nation. In
But now it appeared that the section that had seemed to be so highly offending were animated by a quite loyal sentiment. Phinehas gladly seized on the fact as a proof that God was among them. A less godly man would not have thought of this as of much importance. He would hardly have believed in it as anything that could exist except in a fanatical imagination. But the more one knows of God the more real does the privilege seem, and the more blessed. Nay, it comes to be felt as that which makes the greatest conceivable difference between one individual or one community and another. The great curse of sin is that it has severed us from God. The glory of the grace of God in Christ is that we are brought together. Man without God is like the earth without the sun, or the body without the soul. Man in fellowship with God is man replenished with all Divine blessings and holy influences. A church in which God does not dwell is a hold of unclean spirits and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. A church inhabited by God, like the bride in the Song of Solomon, "looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners."
Joshua xxiii.
Joshua had been a close follower of Moses in many
things, and now he follows him by calling the people "The People's Bible," by Joseph Parker.
What was the burden of Joshua's address? What was alike the keynote, and the central note, and the closing note—the beginning, and the middle, and the end? You have it in the words—"The Lord your God is He that fighteth for you"; therefore "cleave unto the Lord your God." You owe everything to the Lord; therefore render to Him all His due. Let Him receive from you in the proportion in which He has given to you; let Him be honoured by you in the ratio in which you have been blessed by Him; and see that none of you ever, to the last day of your lives, give the faintest countenance to the idolatry of your neighbours, or consent to any entangling connection that would furnish a temptation to join in their wickedness.
This starting-point of Joshua's address—"The Lord
There are some expositors who explain these sayings
in a general sense. There are great laws of conquest,
they say, roughly sanctioned by Providence, whereby
one race advances upon another. Nations enervated
through luxury and idleness are usually supplanted
by more vigorous races. The Goths and Vandals
overcame the Romans; the Anglo-Saxons subdued the
Britons, to be in time conquered by the Normans;
Dutch rule has prevailed over the negro, English over
the Hindu, American over the native Indian. In the
treatment of the conquered races by the conquerors,
there has often been much that is gross and objectionable.
Even when a civilized and cultured race has
had to deal with a barbarous one, instead of the sweetness
and light of culture you have often had the
devices of injustice and oppression. We cannot
vindicate all the rule of the British in India; greed,
insolence, and lust have left behind them many a stain.
Still, the result on the whole has been for good. The
English have a higher conception of human life than
the Hindus. They have a higher sense of order, of
justice, of family life, of national well-being. There
is a vigour about them that will not tolerate the policy
of drifting; that cannot stand still or lie still and see
everything going wrong; that strives to remedy injustice,
to reform abuse, to correct what is vicious and
disorderly, and foster organization and progress. In
We say there are some expositors who hold that
it is only in a way parallel to this that the conquest
of Canaan by the Israelites enjoyed the sanction of
God. Without making a great deal of the wickedness
of the Canaanite tribes, they dwell on their weakness,
their poor ideas of life, their feeble aims, their want
of developing power, their inability to rise. Into the
heart of these tribes there comes a race that somehow
Now, in this case, as in the conquest of India by
Britain, a process went on which was a great benefit
on a large scale. It was not designed to be of benefit
But this was not all. There was already a judicial
sentence against the seven nations of which Israel was
appointed to be the executioner. Even in Abraham's
time we have abundant proof that they were far
gone in corruption, and the destruction of Sodom and
Gomorrah was but an early stroke of that holy sword
which was to come down over a far wider area when
the iniquity of the Amorites should become full. We
have no elaborate account of the moral and religious
condition of the people in Joshua's time, but we have
We cannot suppose that the people uniformly acted with the moderation and self-restraint becoming God's executioners. No doubt there were many instances of unwarrantable and inhuman violence. Such excesses are unavoidable when human beings are employed as the executioners of God. To charge these on God is not fair. They were the spots and stains that ever indicate the hand of man, even when doing the work of God. It is not necessary to approve of these while we vindicate the law which doomed the Canaanites to extermination, and made the Israelites their executioners. It is not necessary to vindicate all that the English have done in India, while we hold that their presence and influence there have been in accordance with a Divine and beneficent purpose. Where God and man are in partnership, we may expect a chequered product, but never let us ascribe the flaws of one to the influence of the other.
If it be said that the language of the historian seems
sometime to ascribe to God what really arose from the
passions of the people, it is to be observed that we are
not told in what form the Lord communicated His
commands. No doubt the Hebrews were disposed to
claim Divine authority for what they did to the very
fullest extent. There may have been times when they
imagined that they were fulfilling the requirements of
God, when they were only giving effect to feelings of
their own. And generally they may have been prone
to suppose that modes of slaughter that seemed to them
But we have wandered from Joshua, and the assembly
of Israel. What we have been trying is to show the
soundness of Joshua's fundamental position—that God
fought for Israel. The same thing might be shown by
a negative process. If God had not been actively and
supernaturally with Israel, Israel could never have
become what he was. What made Israel so remarkable
and powerful a nation? If you appeal to heredity and
go back to his forefather, you find the whole career of
Abraham determined by what he undoubtedly regarded
as a supernatural promise, that in him and his seed all
the families of the earth should be blessed. If you
speak of Moses as the founder of the nation, you find
a man who was utterly defeated and humiliated when
he acted on his own resources, and successful only
when he came in contact with supernatural might. If
you inquire into the cause of the military superiority
of Israel, you cannot find it in their slave condition in
Egypt, nor in their wandering, pastoral life in the desert.
You are baffled in trying to account for the warlike
energy and skill that swept the Canaanites with all
their resources before their invincible might. That an
Alexander the Great, or a Cæsar, or a Napoleon, with
their long experience, their trained legions, their splendid
prestige and unrivalled resources, should have swept
The getting possession of Canaan, as Joshua reminded the people, was a threefold process: God fighting for them had subdued their enemies; Joshua had divided the land; and now God was prepared to expel the remaining people, but only through their instrumentality. Emphasis is laid on "expelling" and "driving out" (ver. 5), from which we gather that further massacre was not to take place, but that the remainder of the Canaanites must seek settlements elsewhere. A sufficient retribution had fallen on them for their sins, in the virtual destruction of their people and the loss of their country; the miserable remnant might have a chance of escape, in some ill-filled country where they would never rise to influence and where terror would restrain them from their former wickedness.
Joshua was very emphatic in forbidding intermarriage
and friendly social intercourse with Canaanites. He
saw much need for the prayer, "Lead us not into
temptation." He understood the meaning of enchanted
ground. He knew that between the realm of holiness
and the realm of sin there is a kind of neutral territory,
which belongs strictly to neither, but which slopes
towards the realm of sin, and in point of fact most
commonly furnishes recruits not a few to the army of
evil. Alas, how true is this still! Marriages between
believers and unbelievers; friendly social fellowship,
on equal terms, between the Church and the world;
partnership in business between the godly and the
ungodly—who does not know the usual result? In a
few solitary cases, it may be, the child of the world is
It is a very vivid picture that Joshua draws of the effects of that sinful compromise with their Canaanite neighbours against which he had warned them. "If ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you: know for a certainty that the Lord your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given you."
The Garden of Eden was not the only paradise that
sin ruined. Here was something like a new paradise
for the children of Israel; and yet there was a possibility—more
than a possibility—of its being ruined by
sin. The history of the future showed that Joshua was
right. The Canaanites remaining in the land were
How awful are the words of St. James: "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."
Joshua xxiv.
1. In the record of Joshua's speech contained in the twenty-fourth chapter, he begins by rehearsing the history of the nation. He has an excellent reason for beginning with the revered name of Abraham, because Abraham had been conspicuous for that very grace, loyalty to Jehovah, which he is bent on impressing on them. Abraham had made a solemn choice in religion. He had deliberately broken with one kind of worship, and accepted another. His fathers had been idolaters, and he had been brought up an idolater. But Abraham renounced idolatry for ever. He did this at a great sacrifice, and what Joshua entreated of the people was, that they would be as thorough and as firm as he was in their repudiation of idolatry. The rehearsal of the history is given in the words of God to remind them that the whole history of Israel had been planned and ordered by Him. He had been among them from first to last; He had been with them through all the lives of the patriarchs; it was He that had delivered them from Egypt by Moses and Aaron, that had buried the Egyptians under the waters of the sea, that had driven the Amorites out of the eastern provinces, had turned the curse of Balaam into a blessing, had dispossessed the seven nations, and had settled the Israelites in their pleasant and peaceful abodes.
We mark in this rehearsal the well-known features
of the national history, as they were always represented;
the frank recognition of the supernatural, with no indication
of myth or legend, with nothing of the mist or
2. But Joshua did not urge this merely on the
strength of his own conviction. He must enlist their
reason on his side; and for this cause he now called
on them deliberately to weigh the claims of other gods
and the advantages of other modes of worship, and
choose that which must be pronounced the best. There
were four claimants to be considered: (1) Jehovah;
(2) the Chaldæan gods worshipped by their ancestors;
If we set down the reasons for making God, God in Christ, the supreme object of our worship, against those in favour of the world, how infinitely will the one scale outweigh the other! In the choice of a master, it is reasonable for a servant to consider which has the greatest claim upon him; which is intrinsically the most worthy to be served; which will bring him the greatest advantages; which will give him most inward satisfaction and peace; which will exercise the best influence on his character, and which comes recommended most by old servants whose testimony ought to weigh with him. If these are the grounds of a reasonable choice in the case of a servant engaging with a master, how much more in reference to the Master of our spirits! Nothing can be plainer than that the Israelites in Joshua's time had every conceivable reason for choosing their fathers' God as the supreme object of their worship, and that any other course would have been alike the guiltiest and the silliest that could have been taken. Are the reasons a whit less powerful why every one of us should devote heart and life and mind and soul to the service of Him who gave Himself for us, and has loved us with an everlasting love?
3. But Joshua is fully prepared to add example to precept. Whatever you do in this matter, my mind is made up, my course is clear—"as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah." He reminds us of a general exhorting his troops to mount the deadly breach and dash into the enemy's citadel. Strong and urgent are his appeals; but stronger and more telling is his act when, facing the danger right in front, he rushes on, determined that, whatever others may do, he will not flinch from his duty. It is the old Joshua back again, the Joshua that alone with Caleb stood faithful amid the treachery of the spies, that has been loyal to God all his life, and now in the decrepitude of old age is still prepared to stand alone rather than dishonour the living God. "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." He was happy in being able to associate his house with himself as sharing his convictions and his purpose. He owed this, in all likelihood, to his own firm and intrepid attitude throughout his life. His house saw how consistently and constantly he recognised the supreme claims of Jehovah. Not less clearly did they see how constantly he experienced the blessedness of his choice.
4. Convinced by his arguments, moved by his
eloquence, and carried along by the magnetism of his
example, the people respond with enthusiasm, deprecate
the very thought of forsaking Jehovah to serve other
gods, and recognise most cordially the claims he has
placed them under, by delivering them from Egypt,
preserving them in the wilderness, and driving out the
Amorites from their land. After this an ordinary
leader would have felt quite at ease, and would have
thanked God that his appeal had met with such a
response, and that such demonstration had been given
5. Hence he draws a somewhat dark picture of
Jehovah's character. He dwells on those attributes
which are least agreeable to the natural man, His
holiness, His jealousy, and His inexorable opposition
to sin. When he says, "He will not forgive your
transgressions nor your sins," he cannot mean that
God is not a God of forgiveness. He cannot wish to
contradict the first part of that gracious memorial which
God gave to Moses: "The Lord, the Lord God merciful
and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness
and truth, forgiving iniquity and transgression and
sin." His object is to emphasize the clause, "and that
will by no means clear the guilty." Evidently he means
that the sin of idolatry is one that God cannot pass over,
cannot fail to punish, until, probably through terrible
judgments, the authors of it are brought to contrition,
and humble themselves in the dust before him. "Ye
cannot serve the Lord," said Joshua; "take care how
you undertake what is beyond your strength!" Perhaps
he wished to impress on them the need of Divine
strength for so difficult a duty. Certainly he did not
change their purpose, but only drew from them a more
resolute expression. "Nay; but we will serve the Lord.
6. And now Joshua comes to a point which had
doubtless been in his mind all the time, but which he
had been waiting for a favourable opportunity to bring
forward. He had pledged the people to an absolute
and unreserved service of God, and now he demands a
practical proof of their sincerity. He knows quite well
that they have "strange gods" among them. Teraphim,
images, or ornaments having a reference to the pagan
gods, he knows that they possess. And he does not
speak as if this were a rare thing, confined to a very few.
He speaks as if it were a common practice, generally
prevalent. Again we see how far from the mark we are
when we think of the whole nation as cordially following
the religion of Moses, in the sense of renouncing all
other gods. Minor forms of idolatry, minor recognitions
of the gods of the Chaldæans and the Egyptians
and the Amorites, were prevalent even yet. Probably
Joshua called to mind the scene that had occurred at
that very place hundreds of years before, when Jacob,
rebuked by God, and obliged to remove from Shechem,
called on his household: "Put away the strange gods
that are among you, and be clean, and change your
garments.... And they gave unto Jacob all the
strange gods which were in the land, and all the ear-rings
which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under
the oak which was by Shechem." Alas! that, centuries
later, it was necessary for Joshua in the same place to
issue the same order,—Put away the gods which are
among you, and serve ye the Lord. What a weed sin
is, and how it is for ever reappearing! And reappearing
among ourselves too, in a different variety, but
7. And now comes the closing and clinching transaction
of this meeting at Shechem. Joshua enters into
a formal covenant with the people; he records their
words in the book of the law of the Lord; he takes a
great stone and sets it up under an oak that was by
the sanctuary of the Lord; and he constitutes the stone
a witness, as if it had heard all that had been spoken
by the Lord to them and by them to the Lord.
The covenant was a transaction invested with special
solemnity among all Eastern peoples, and especially
among the Israelites. Many instances had occurred
in their history, of covenants with God, and of other
covenants, like that of Abraham with Abimelech, or
At the least, this meeting secured for Joshua a peaceful
sunset, and enabled him to sing his "Nunc dimittis."
The evil which he dreaded most was not at work as
the current of life ebbed away from him; it was his
great privilege to look round him and see his people
faithful to their Lord. It does not appear that Joshua
had any very comprehensive or far-reaching aims with
reference to the moral training and development of the
people. His idea of religion seems to have been, a very
simple loyalty to Jehovah, in opposition to the perversions
of idolatry. It is not even very plain whether
or not he was much impressed by the capacity of true
religion to pervade all the relations and engagements
of men, and brighten and purify the whole life. We are
too prone to ascribe all the virtues to the good men of
the Old Testament, forgetting that of many virtues
there was only a progressive development, and that it
is not reasonable to look for excellence beyond the
It is quite possible that, under Joshua, religion did
not appear in very close relation to many things that
are lovely and of good report. A celebrated English
writer (Matthew Arnold) has asked whether, if Virgil
or Shakespeare had sailed in the Mayflower with the
puritan fathers, they would have found themselves in
congenial society. The question is not a fair one, for it
supposes that men whose destiny was to fight as for very
life, and for what was dearer than life, were of the same
mould with others who could devote themselves in
peaceful leisure to the amenities of literature. Joshua
had doubtless much of the ruggedness of the early
soldier, and it is not fair to blame him for want of
sweetness and light. Very probably it was from him
that Deborah drew somewhat of her scorn, and Jael,
the wife of Heber, of her rugged courage. The whole
Book of Judges is penetrated by his spirit. He was
not the apostle of charity or gentleness. He had one
virtue, but it was the supreme virtue—he honoured
God. Wherever God's claims were involved, he could
see nothing, listen to nothing, care for nothing, but
that He should obtain His due. Wherever God's
Among the reformers, the puritans, and the covenanters such men were often found. The best of them, indeed, were men of this type, and very genuine men they were. They were not men whom the world loved; they were too jealous of God's claims for that, and too severe on those who refused them. And we have still the type of the fighting Christian. But alas! it is a type subject to fearful degeneration. Loyalty to human tradition is often substituted, unconsciously no doubt, for loyalty to God. The sublime purity and nobility of the one passes into the obstinacy, the self-righteousness, the self-assertion of the other. When a man of the genuine type does appear, men are arrested, astonished, as if by a supernatural apparition. The very rareness, the eccentricity of the character, secures a respectful homage. And yet, who can deny that it is the true representation of what every man should be who says, "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth"?
After a life of a hundred and ten years the hour
comes when Joshua must die. We have no record of
the inner workings of his spirit, no indication of his
feelings in view of his sins, no hint as to the source of
his trust for forgiveness and acceptance. But we readily
It is probably a mere incidental arrangement that
the book concludes with a record of the burial of
Joseph, and of the death and burial of Eleazar, the
son of Aaron. In point of time, we can hardly suppose
that the burial of Joseph in the field of his father Jacob
But why did not Joseph's bones find their resting-place in the time-honoured cave of Macpelah? Why was he not laid side by side with his father, who would doubtless have liked right well that his beloved son should be laid at his side? We can only say in regard to Joseph as in regard to Rachel, that the right of burial in that tomb seems to have been limited to the wife who was recognised by law, and to the son who inherited the Messianic promise. The other members of the family must have their resting-place elsewhere; moreover, there was this benefit in Joseph having his burial-place at Shechem, that it was in the very centre of the country, and near the spot where the tribes were to assemble for the great annual festivals. For many a generation the tomb of Joseph would be a memorable witness to the people; by it the patriarch, though dead, would continue to testify to the faithfulness of God; while he would point the hopes of the godly people still onward to the future, when the last clause of the promise to Abraham would be emphatically fulfilled, and that Seed would come forth among them in whom all the families of the earth would be blessed.
Was there a reason for recording the death of
Eleazar? Certainly there was a fitness in placing
together the record of the death of Joshua and the
death of Eleazar. For Joshua was the successor of
How short the life of a generation seems when we look back to these distant days! How short the life of the individual when he realizes that his journey is practically ended! How vain the expectation once cherished of an indefinite future, when there would be ample time to make up for all the neglects of earlier years! God give us all to know the true meaning of that word, "the time is short," and "so teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom!"
It now only remains for us to take a retrospective view of the work of Joshua, and indicate what he did for Israel and the mark he left on the national history.
1. Joshua was a soldier—a believing soldier. He was the first of a type that has furnished many remarkable specimens. Abraham had fought, but he had fought as a quaker might be induced to fight, for he was essentially a man of peace. Moses had superintended military campaigns, but Moses was essentially a priest and a prophet. Joshua was neither quaker, nor priest, nor prophet, but simply a soldier. There were fighting men in abundance, no doubt, before the flood, but so far as we know, not believing men. Joshua was the first of an order that seems to many a moral paradox—a devoted servant of God, yet an enthusiastic fighter. His mind ran naturally in the groove of military work. To plan expeditions, to devise methods of attacking, scattering, or annihilating opponents, came naturally to him. A military genius, he entered con amore into his work.
Yet along with this the fear of God continually controlled
and guided him. He would do nothing deliberately
unless he was convinced that it was the will of
There have been soldiers who were religious in spite
of their being soldiers—some of them in their secret
hearts regretting the distressing fortune that made the
sword their weapon; but there have also been men
whose energy in religion and in fighting have supported
and strengthened each other. Such men, however, are
usually found only in times of great moral and spiritual
struggle, when the brute force of the world has been
mustered in overwhelming mass to crush some religious
movement. They have an intense conviction that the
movement is of God, and as to the use of the sword,
they cannot help themselves; they have no choice, for
the instinct of self-defence compels them to draw it.
Such are the warriors of the Apocalypse, the soldiers
of Armageddon; for though their battle is essentially
spiritual, it is presented to us in that military book
under the symbols of material warfare. Such were the
Ziskas and Procopses of the Bohemian reformation;
the Gustavus Adolphuses of the Thirty Years' War;
the Cromwells of the Commonwealth, and the General
Leslies of the Covenant. Ruled supremely by the fear
of God, and convinced of a Divine call to their work,
they have communed about it with Him as closely and
as truly as the missionary about his preaching or his
translating, or the philanthropist about his homes or
2. Being a soldier, Joshua confined himself in the main to the work of a soldier. That work was to conquer the enemy and to divide the land. To these two departments he limited himself, in subordination, however, to his deep conviction that they were only means to an end, and that that end would be utterly missed unless the people were pervaded by loyalty to God and devotion to the mode of worship which He had prescribed. No opportunity of impressing that consideration on their minds was neglected. It lay at the root of all their prosperity; and if Joshua had not pressed it on them by every available means, all his work would have been like pouring water on sand or sowing seed upon the rocks of the seashore.
Joshua was not called to ecclesiastical work, certainly
not in the sense of carrying out ecclesiastical details
And the fact that it has this character is a testimony
to its authenticity. Had it been a work of much later
date, it is not likely that it would have been confined
within such narrow limits. It would in all likelihood
have presented a much larger view of the state and
progress of the nation than the existing book does.
The fact that it is made to revolve so closely round
Joshua seems to indicate that Joshua's personality was
3. If we examine carefully Joshua's character as a
soldier, or rather as a strategist, we shall probably find
that he had one defect. He does not appear to have
succeeded in making his conquests permanent. What
he gained one day was often won back by the enemy
after a little time. To read the account of what
happened after the victory of Gibeon and Bethhoron,
one would infer that all the region south of Gibeon fell
completely into his hands. Yet by-and-by we find
Hebron and Jerusalem in possession of the enemy,
while a hitherto unheard-of king has come into view,
Adonibezek, of Bezek, of whose people there were slain,
after the death of Joshua, ten thousand men (
4. The great service of Joshua to his people (as we
have already remarked) was, that he gave them a
settlement. He gave them—Rest. Some, indeed, may
be disposed to question whether that which Joshua
did give them was worthy of the name of rest. If
the Canaanites were still among them, disputing the
possession of the country; if savage Adonibezeks were
The objection proceeds from inability to estimate the force of the comparative degree. Joshua gave them rest in the sense that he gave them homes of their own. There was no more need for the wandering life which they had led in the wilderness. They had more compact and comfortable habitations than the tents of the desert with their slim coverings that could effectually shut out neither the cold of winter, nor the heat of summer, nor the drenching rains. They had brighter objects to look out on than the scanty and monotonous vegetation of the wilderness. No doubt they had to defend their new homes, and in order to do so they had to expel the Canaanites who were still hovering about them. But still they were real homes; they were not homes which they merely expected or hoped to get, but homes which they had actually gotten. They were homes with the manifold attractions of country life—the field, the well, the garden, the orchard, stocked with vine, fig, and pomegranate; the olive grove, the rocky crag, and the quiet glen. The sheep and the oxen might be seen browsing in picturesque groups on the pasture grounds, as if they were part of the family. It was an interest to watch the progress of vegetation, to mark how the vine budded, and the lily sprang into beauty, to pluck the first rose, or to divide the first ripe pomegranate. Life had a new interest when on a bright spring morning the young man could thus invite his bride:—
This, as it were, was Joshua's gift to Israel, or rather God's gift through Joshua. It was well fitted to kindle their gratitude, and though not yet complete or perfectly secure, it was entitled to be called "rest." For if there was still need of fighting to complete the conquest, it was fighting under easy conditions. If they went out under the influence of that faith of which Joshua had set them so memorable an example, they were sure of protection and of victory. Past experience had shown to demonstration that none of their enemies could stand before them, and the future would be as the past had been. God was still among them; if they called on Him, He would arise, their enemies would be scattered, and they that hated Him would flee before Him. Fidelity to Him would secure all the blessings that had been read out at Mount Gerizim, and to which they had enthusiastically shouted, Amen. The picture drawn by Moses before his death would be realized in its brightest colours: "Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed when thou goest out."
But here a very serious objection may be interposed.
Is it conceivable, it may be asked, that this serene
The question is certainly a disturbing one, and any answer that may be given to it must seem imperfect, just because we are incapable of placing ourselves wholly in the circumstances of the children of Israel.
We are incapable of entering into the callousness of the Oriental heart in reference to the sufferings or the death of enemies. Exceptions there no doubt were; but, as a rule, indifference to the condition of enemies, whether in life or in death, was the prevalent feeling.
Two parts of their nature were liable to be affected by the change which put the Israelites in possession of the houses and fields of the destroyed Canaanites—their consciences and their hearts.
With regard to their consciences the case was clear:
"The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the
world, and they that dwell therein." God, as owner of
the land of Canaan, had given it, some six hundred
years before, to Abraham and his seed. That gift had
been ratified by many solemnities, and belief in it had
been kept alive in the hearts of Abraham's descendants
from generation to generation. There had been no
secret about it, and the Canaanites must have been
It was well known, therefore, that, so far as Divine right
went, the children of Israel were entitled to the land.
But even after that, the Canaanites had a respite and
enjoyed possession for forty years. Besides, they had
been judicially condemned on account of their sins; and,
moreover, when they first came into the country, they had
dispossessed the former inhabitants. At last, after long
delay, the hour of destiny arrived. When the Israelites
took possession they felt that they were only regaining
their own. It was not they, but the Canaanites, that
were the intruders, and any feeling on the question of
right in the minds of the Israelites would rather be
that of indignation at having been kept out so long
of what had been promised to Abraham, than of
Still, one might suppose there remained scope for natural pity. But this was not very active. We may gather something of the prevalent feeling from the song of Deborah and the action of Jael. It was not an age of humanity. The whole period of the Judges was indeed an "iron age." Gideon, Jephthah, Samson, were men of the roughest fibre. Even David's treatment of his Ammonite prisoners was revolting. All that can be said for Israel is, that their treatment of enemies did not reach that infamous pre-eminence of cruelty for which the Assyrians and the Babylonians were notorious. But they had enough of the prevailing callousness to enable them to enter without much discomfort on the homes and possessions of their dispossessed foes. They had no such sentimental reserve as to interfere with a lively gratitude to Joshua as the man who had given them rest.
Probably, in looking back on those times, we fail to
realize the marvellous influence in the direction of all
that is humane and loving that came into our world, and
began to operate in full force, with the advent of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We forget how much
darker a world it must have been before the true light
entered, that lighteth every man coming into the world.
We forget what a gift God gave to the world when
Jesus entered it, bringing with Him the light and love,
the joy and peace, the hope and the holiness of heaven.
We forget that the coming of Jesus was the rising of
the Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings.
Coming among us as the incarnation of Divine love, it
was natural that He should correct the prevailing
practice in the treatment of enemies, and infuse a new
Alas! it is with much humiliation we must own that
in practising this humane spirit of her Lord the progress
of the Church has been slow and small. It seemed to
be implied in the prophecies that Christianity would
end war; yet one of the most outstanding phenomena
of the world is, the so-called Christian nations of Europe
armed to the teeth, expending millions of treasure year
by year on destructive armaments, and withdrawing
millions of soldiers from those pursuits which increase
wealth and comfort, to be supported by taxes wrung
from the sinews of the industrious, and to be ready,
when called on, to scatter destruction and death among
the ranks of their enemies. Surely it is a shame to the
diplomacy of Europe that so little is done to arrest this
And surely it is no credit to the Christian Church that, when its members are divided in opinion, there should be so much bitterness in the spirit of its controversies. Grant that what excites men so keenly is the fear that the truth of God being at stake, that which they deem most sacred in itself, and most vital in its influence for good is liable to suffer; hence they regard it a duty to rebuke sharply all who are apparently prepared to betray it or compromise it. Is it not apparent that if love is not mingled with the controversies of Christians, it is vain to expect violence and war to cease among the nations? More than this, if love is not more apparent among Christians than has been common, we may well tremble for the cause itself. One of the leaders of German unbelief is said to have remarked that he did not think Christianity could be Divine, because he did not find the people called Christians paying more heed than others to the command of Jesus to love their enemies.
5. One other service of Joshua to the nation of Israel
remains to be noticed: he sought with all his heart
that they should be a God-governed people, a people
that in every department of life should be ruled by the
endeavour to do God's will. He pressed this on them
with such earnestness, he commended it by his own
example with such sincerity, he brought his whole
Still Joshua laboured to press the lesson—the great
lesson of the theocracy—Let God rule you; follow invariably
His will. It is a rule for nations, for churches,
for individuals. The Hebrew theocracy has passed
away; but there is a sense in which every Christian
nation should be a modified theocracy. So far as God
has given abiding rules for the conduct of nations,
every nation ought to regard them. If it be a Divine
principle that righteousness exalteth a nation; if it be a
Divine command to remember the Sabbath day to keep
it holy; if it be a Divine instruction to rulers to deliver
So, too, churches should be divinely ruled. There is but one Lord in the Christian Church, He that is King of kings, and Lord of lords. There may be many details in Church life which are left to the discretion of its rulers, acting in accordance with the spirit of Scripture; but no church should accept of any ruler whose will may set aside the will of her Lord, nor allow any human authority to supersede what He has ordained.
And for individuals the universal rule is: "Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks unto God and the Father by Him." Each true Christian heart is a theocracy—a Christ-governed soul. Not ruled by external appliances nor by mechanical rules, nor by the mere effort to follow a prescribed example; but by the indwelling of Christ's Spirit, by a vital force communicated from Himself. The spring of the Christian life is here—"Not I, but Christ liveth in me." This is the source of all the beautiful and fruitful Christian lives that ever have been, of all that are, and of all that ever shall be.
THE END.
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