Josh. 18:3.

Josh. 18:3.

[In the contest with the worshippers of Baal, this matter was brought to a trial: and what was the result? the very idolaters themselves exclaimed, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!” Nebuchadnezzar was in like manner forced to acknowledge the vanity of the idol he had set up, and to confess that no other god could effect such a deliverance for his votaries, as Jehovah had wrought for the Hebrew Youthsb.]

  2.      To his enemies at this day—

[There are many who are ready to think that too much honour is ascribed to God, when the weakness of all created confidences is exposed. But we will appeal to their judgment, whether they do not think that an omniscient, and omnipotent Being, whose providence and grace have been so marvellously displayed, be not more worthy of our trust than an arm of flesh? We appeal also to their experience; for though, through their ignorance of Jehovah, they cannot declare what HE is, they do know, and must confess, that the creature, when confided in as a source of true happiness, invariably shews itself to be “vanity and vexation of spirit.”]

  Address—

  1.      Let those who have undervalued our Rock, repent of their folly—

[Not idolaters alone, but all, who do not supremely love and adore the Saviour, must be considered as undervaluing this our Rock: and, if they do not repent of their conduct now, they will bewail it ere long with endless and unavailing sorrow. Let them then consider, that, with respect to temporal things, there is none other that can deliver them from trouble, or support them under it: and that, with respect to spiritual things, there is no wisdom, strength, or righteousness, but in Him alone. Let them consider, that “in him all fulness dwells;” and that, if they trust in him, he will give them all that is needful for body and soul, for time and eternity. O that they were wise and would turn unto him, and cleave to him with full purpose of heart!]

  2.      Let those, who trust in Jesus, glory in him as an all-sufficient portion—

[They who build on this Rock need never fear: however high their expectations are raised, they shall never be disappointed of their hope. They may enlarge their desires, even as hell itself that is never satisfied; they may ask all that God himself can bestow; and, provided it be good for them, they shall possess it all: however “wide they open their mouth, God will fill it.” In vain shall either men or devils seek to injure them; for “one of them should chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight.” Let them then consider what an almighty Friend they have; and endeavour to walk worthy of Him who has called them to his kingdom and glory.”]

CCXXXV

JUDGMENT NEAR AT HAND

  Deut. 32:34, 35.

Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures? To me belongeth vengeance and recompence: their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.

TENDERNESS and fidelity are by no means incompatible. Nothing could exceed the tenderness of our blessed Lord, who wept over those who were just about to imbrue their hands in his blood. Yet, when occasion called for it, he spoke with great severity: “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how shall ye escape the damnation of hell?” In like manner, Jehovah, in the chapter before us, whilst he declares that “a fire was kindled in his anger against his people, and that it should burn to the lowest hellb,” takes up this lamentation over them: “O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up? For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.” But as, notwithstanding all his remonstrances, they still continued to bring forth nothing but “grapes of gall and clusters of Gomorrha,” he warns them, that their iniquities were remembered by him in order to a future judgment, and that their merited calamities were near at hand.

But to us, also, are the words no less applicable than to them: for we, also, are a disobedient people, and have but too much reason to expect the judgments of God upon us. I observe, then,

  I.      That our sins are treasured up before God in order to a future judgment—

[This is stated to us in way of appeal: “Is not your iniquity laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?” We cannot doubt but that God notes all our wickedness, and “records it in the book of his remembrance.” Of this Job was well convinced, when he said, “My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquitye.” And oh! what a mass of iniquity is there contained! Call to mind the sins of early infancy: for not one of them is overlooked by God. Then view the evils of childhood and of youth: alas, how numerous! even as the sands upon the sea-shore for multitude. Then go on to the period of maturer age, when, instead of improving our enlarged faculties in the service of our God, we have debased them the more in the service of sin and Satan. Go on to the present hour. Take all the actions, words, and thoughts of every successive day, and try them by the standard of God’s holy Law; and then see what loads of guilt we have contracted, and what volumes of indictment are ready at any hour to be brought forth against us: especially if we bear in remembrance our impenitence, which so greatly provokes God to anger; and our contempt of his Gospel, that stupendous effort of his love and mercy for the saving of our souls from death: if we reflect on these, I say, we cannot but see what a fearful account we have to give to our offended God. How soon we shall have “filled up the measure of our iniquities,” God alone knows: but this accumulation of our guilt none of us can deny; and this certainty of retribution none of us can doubt.]

In addition to this, I must say,

  II.      That the appointed time for giving up our account is hastening on apace—

[”Our foot,” we are told, “shall slide in due time, and the day of our calamity is at hand.” Truly “we are set in slippery places; and are liable to be cast down into destruction in a moment.” Persons walking upon the ice, or on the glaciers of mountainous countries, feel the force of this observation, and endeavour to guard with all possible care against their danger. But we see not our danger, notwithstanding it is in fact not less imminent than theirs. Millions of dangers encompass us around; and numerous instances occur of persons summoned into eternity without a moment’s warning. The time for every man’s departure is fixed by God: and how near it may be at hand, no one can divine. But the instant it is arrived, whether we be prepared or unprepared, away we are hurried to the judgment-seat of Christ; and, if unprepared, we are cast into the very depths of hell. I know that persons are ready to say, “But God is merciful.” True; but I answer, that “To him belongeth vengeance also;” yea, and this is as essential to his character as mercy. Hence, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, my text is cited with peculiar emphasis: “We know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me: I will recompense, saith the Lord.” And to this it is added, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Now, I ask, Shall this perfection of the Deity be dispensed with, in order to give us safety in our sins? It cannot be. An hatred of sin, and a determination to punish it, are essential to the nature of Jehovah; and he can as soon cease to exist, as he can cease to act worthy of his proper character. You cannot but know. Brethren, that multitudes are hurried daily into the presence of their God, without any regard to their state of preparation to meet him: and there is no reason why you should not be taken just as they were. “They were saying, Peace and safety; and then came sudden destruction upon them, as travail upon a woman with child.” And the more secure you are in your own apprehension, the more reason there is to fear that you shall be called away in like manner, and that “that awful day shall overtake you “as a thief.” This consideration is very particularly urged upon you by the Prophet Hosea: “The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is hid. The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him.” It matters not whether you be young or old, or whether in health or sickness, “the Judge standeth at the door;” and at the instant ordained by him, into his presence must you go, to “give an account of all that you have ever done, whether it be good or evil.”]

And truth compels me to declare,

  III.      That it is owing to the forbearance of God alone that every one of us has not long since fallen into hell—

[Who amongst us has not deserved the wrath of God? Who amongst us may not call to mind some moment, when God, so to speak, might have cut us off to advantage, to display in us his righteous indignation? And if he had summoned us hence, who could have withstood his mandate, or prolonged his life one single hour? We have been in the hands of God, hanging, as it were, over the bottomless pit, and suspended only by a single thread, which, if let loose or cut, would have transmitted us at once to everlasting misery. And many times has God been tempted, so to speak, to let go his hold: but our blessed Saviour has interceded for us, and prevailed to obtain for us a respite from our destined misery, if by any means we might be led to avert it by penitence and faith in him. All has been ready for our ruin long ago. “Tophet has been prepared: it has been made deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; and the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, hath kindled it:” yes, the unquenchable fire has long since been kindled, and those cruel spirits, who have been our tempters, have long been waiting to become our tormentors. Nothing has prevented our ruin but the forbearance of our God, who, in the midst of all our provocations, has yet waited to be gracious unto us. It is to his sovereign grace alone we owe it, that we are not at this instant in the condition of millions, who never lived so long as we, or sinned so much against God as we, and were altogether as likely to live as we. But “others have been taken, and we are left,” if peradventure we may yet repent us of our sins, and flee for refuge to the hope that is set before us.]

  I cannot conclude this awful subject without ADDRESSING a few words,

  1.      To those who are yet indulging in security—

[What have you been doing all your days, but “treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath?” You do not design to go to hell, I know: neither did they who are already there. They designed, each in his own way, to do something that might bring them to heaven. One intended to repent, another to amend, another perhaps to embrace the Gospel. But death seized them, ere they had found leisure to carry their designs into effect And you also design to get into the way that leads to heaven. But tell me, When did you form this design? You know not the time when it did not in a careless way float upon your mind: and here have you been, years and years, without ever carrying it into effect. Tell me, then, I pray you, when do you intend to carry it into effect? As to any serious purpose and endeavour, it is still as far off as at any period of your lives: and therefore there is reason to fear that your good designs will terminate, as those of millions do, in utter abortion: and that in you will be verified what the Psalmist has said, “Upon the wicked, God will rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest; this shall be the portion of their cup.” You may be assured, that God will not always bear with you: that, on the contrary, “your judgment lingereth not, and your damnation slumbereth noto.” “The axe at this very moment lieth at the root of the tree,” ready to cut you down: and God alone knows whether another offer of mercy shall be ever made you. “O that you may know, every one of you, in this your day, the things that belong unto your peace!” “To-day, Brethren, while it is called to-day, harden not your hearts:” but “seek ye the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him while he is near.” “This day, for every one of you, may be the day of salvation:” what to-morrow may be none can tell. I pray God, it may not prove to you, as no doubt it will to many, “the day of wrath,” the day of everlasting damnation.]

  2.      To those who are desirous of preparing for death and judgment—

[Happy am I to declare unto you, that, however numerous or heinous your sins may have been, they may all this very day be “blotted out of the book of God’s remembrance;” yea, be “blotted out as a morning cloud,” never more to be seen, never to be remembered against you in judgmentu. “The blood of Jesus Christ, we are told, will cleanse from all sin;” so that “though your sins have been as scarlet or as crimson, they shall in one instant become white as snowy.” Yes, Brethren, if “vengeance belongeth unto God,” so does mercy also: “with him is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption, so that he will redeem Israel from all his sins.” Take courage, then; and from the very forbearance you have experienced, assure yourselves that “God is full of compassion, slow to anger, and of great kindness;” and that if only you come to him in his Son’s name, you shall never perish, but shall have eternal life.]

CCXXXVI

OUR EXTREMITY IS GOD’S OPPORTUNITY

  Deut. 32:36.

The Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.

IT is a certain truth that God is immutable in his purposes, whether of judgment or of mercy. In the execution of either there may be long delays: but neither the one nor the other shall fail. The sins of the impenitent “are laid up in store with him, and sealed up among his treasures:” and how secure soever the ungodly may imagine themselves, they shall give up their account to him, “to whom belongeth vengeance and recompence:” yes, they may stand fast in their own apprehension; but “their feet shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand; and the things that shall come upon them make haste;” or, to use the energetic language of St. Peter, “their judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.” In like manner are mercies reserved for his chosen people: and though he may, for wise and gracious purposes, suffer them to be reduced to the greatest extremities, as he did his people in Babylon, yet will he interpose effectually for them in due season, “repenting himself for them, when he sees that their power is gone, and that there is none shut up or left.”

In confirmation of this truth I propose to shew,

  I.      To what a state God’s people may be reduced—

God’s ways and thoughts are far different from ours. We should be ready to suppose that he would preserve his people from any great calamities, and interpose for their deliverance at the very commencement of their trials. But this is not the way in which he proceeds. He permits his people to be severely tried,

  1.      By temporal afflictions—

[To these is the primary reference in the text — — — And the whole of God’s dispensations towards his people, in Egypt and the wilderness, evince the truth of it. Nor is it the wicked only whom he permits to be visited with severe afflictions: the righteous in every age have drunk deep of the cup of sorrow which has been put into their hands: God has seen it “needful that they should be in heaviness through manifold temptationsf;” and has taught them to regard their lot, not as a mark of his displeasure, but rather as a token of his love.]

  2.      By spiritual trouble—

[Many, previous to their finding peace with God, are brought into the deepest distress on account of their iniquities, and from an apprehension of God’s heavy displeasure — — — And many too after that they have obtained mercy, may yet be greatly tried by reason of the hidings of God’s facei, and the delays of his promised blessings — — — Greater distress than this cannot be imagined; yet was it the lot of him who was “the man after God’s own heart.”]

But let us contemplate,

  II.      The seasonable interpositions which they may hope for—

“God will judge his people, and repent himself for his servants,” when he sees them reduced to such a state as this.

He has done this in instances without number—

[The whole history of the Bible is replete with instances: yea, on numberless occasions have his interpositions been so signal, that his most inveterate enemies have been constrained to acknowledge his hand, and his most unbelieving people to sing his praise. The hundred and seventh Psalm is in fact an epitome of God’s dealings with his people from the beginning of the world to this present moment — — — And there is not any one amongst ourselves, who, if he have been at all observant of the ways of Providence, must not acknowledge, that he has both seen in others, and experienced in himself, many merciful interpositions in the hour of need.]

He will do it to the end of time—

[The words before us are in the form of a promise: and we may rely upon them as sure and faithful. They shall be fulfilled to us under temporal distresses — — — and under spiritual trouble also will God surely remember them for our good. Where can we find a more disconsolate state than that depicted by the Prophet Isaiah? Yet sooner will God work for us the most stupendous miracles than leave us destitute of the desired aidm — — —]

The frequency of such interpositions leads me to point out,

  III.      The reason why God permits such crises previous to the bestowment of his promised blessings—

Amongst many other reasons, he does it,

  1.      For the making of us more sensible of our dependence upon him—

[Whilst, in theory, we acknowledge God as “the Author and Giver of all good,” there is no sentiment further from our minds than this in practice. It is only in straits and difficulties that we think of looking unto God. But such atheism is most displeasing to the Governor of the universe: and on this account he suffers us to fall into divers temptations, that we may know from whence all our blessings have flowed, and on whose providence we depend. St. Paul assigns this as one very important reason why God permitted such trials to come upon him in Asia, that he was driven to utter despair: “We were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: but we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raiseth the dead; who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver; in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us.” And every affliction that brings us to a more simple life of faith on God, we may justly welcome as a blessing in disguise.]

  2.      For the magnifying the more his own glorious perfections—

[We scarcely notice God at all in his common mercies: it is only when we are delivered by some signal interposition of his providence or grace, that we become sensible of our obligations to him. Then we say, The Lord hath done this: and we feel disposed, for a time at least, to give him the glory due unto his name. It was for this reason that Jesus came not to restore Lazarus, till he had been dead four days. Under such circumstances we admire his goodness, and adore his love; and confess him to be a faithful God, who has never failed in the execution of any promise to his believing people. The song of Moses is sung by us again: “Who is like unto thee, O Lord, amongst the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” Conviction flashes on our minds with tenfold energy; and we exclaim with the convinced worshippers of Baal, “The Lord, he is the God! the Lord, he is the God!”]

  3.      For the rendering of his mercies more influential on our minds—

[When God’s mercies have been heaped upon us in an unusual degree, then we feel disposed to ask, “What shall I render to the Lord for all the benefits that he hath done unto me?” Behold David after some great deliverance, whereby “his soul was brought out of a horrible pit, and set, as it were, upon a rock;” “what songs were put into his mouth;” and with what ardour does he exclaim, “Blessed is the man that maketh the Lord his trust!” St. Paul had been brought to similar distress by reason of the thorn in his flesh: yet, when once assured that “the grace of Christ should be sufficient for him,” how does he immediately take pleasure and glory in all that he either did or could endure! And thus will it be with all, in proportion as they are sensible of the mercies conferred upon them: they will present their whole selves a living sacrifice unto their God, as a reasonable and delightful services.]

  ADDRESS—

  1.      To those who are under any temporal affliction—

[Say not, that “the Lord has forsaken and forgotten you:” but wait his leisure, and assure yourselves that “all is working for your good.” It was by a circuitous path that he led Israel to the promised land: but “he led them by the right way:” and you also shall see, in due season, that though “clouds and darkness have been round about him, righteousness and judgment have been the basis of his throne.”]

  2.      To those whose trials are of a spiritual nature—

[These are the heavier of the two: for “a wounded spirit who can bear?” But “light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.” Only wait the appointed time, and “the vision shall come, and not tarry.” “In the evening time it shall be lightx.” In the mean while follow the direction which the Lord himself gives you; and, whilst “walking in darkness and without light, trust in the Lord, and stay yourselves upon your God.”]

CCXXXVII

GOD THE ONLY AUTHOR OF GOOD AND EVIL

  Deut. 32:39.

See now, that I, even I, am he, and there it no strange god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither it there any that can deliver out of my hand.

THE Jews, from the time that they became a nation, turned aside from the living God to the worship of idols: on which account, God, in righteous indignation, refused them, on some occasions, the aid which he alone could bestow; and referred them to their idols, in whom they trusted, that they might obtain from them those things of which they stood in need: “Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted, which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink-offerings? Let them rise up and help you, and be your protection.” But to us is the same reproach most justly due: for though we do not, like them, bow down to shocks and stones, we are far from realizing in our minds the exclusive agency of Jehovah. To us, therefore, no less than to them, may be addressed the solemn admonition before us; “See now, that I, even I, am he, and there is no strange god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal; neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.”

Let me now entreat your attention to,

  I.      God’s own description of his own character—

Agreeably to what is here spoken, we see, that,

  1.      His agency is universal—

[There is not any thing done, whether it be good or evil, but he is the doer of it. “I am the Lord,” says he; “and there is none else; there is no God besides me. I am the Lord; and there is none else. I form the light and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things.” There is nothing so great, or so small, but it must be traced to him as its proper source and author, even to the falling of a sparrow, or the falling of a hair from our headsb. And God is desirous that this should be known and duly considered by us. To discover this to his ancient people, was one great reason for his marvellous interpositions for them, and of the no less marvellous forbearance which he exercised towards themd. And we, also, must bear in mind, that “whether he kill or make alive, whether he wound or heal, it is He alone that does it, and there is no strange god with him.”]

  2.      His appointments are sovereign—

[The whole Scripture bears testimony that “God worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” He does so in relation to all temporal matters: “He killeth, and maketh alive; he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up: he maketh poor and maketh rich; he bringeth low and lifteth up: he raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit a throne of glory.” In relation to spiritual matters, also, he exercises no less a sovereign control, “having mercy on whom he will have mercy, and hardening whom he sees good to hardenf.” This was viewed by St. Paul in so important a light, that when he had once touched upon it, he did not know how to relinquish the subject, but insisted on it with every diversity of expression that language could furnish, and yet with such repetitions as appeared almost to be endless. Having said that God had blessed us with all spiritual blessings, he traces the gift to this as its true source: “He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, having predestinated us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved; in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he had purposed in himself; that in the dispensation of the fulness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in him; in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, that we should be to the praise of his glory.” We have often read this passage, but with so little care, as scarcely to get a glimpse of its true import: but, the more minutely and attentively we consider it, the more, shall we see the amazing importance of the subject contained in it, and of the character of God as a mighty Sovereign, that does what he will, and “gives not account to us of any of his matters.”]

  3.      His power is uncontrollable—

[Forcible is that appeal of Elihu, “When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? whether it be done against a nation or a man only.” He is a mighty “Lawgiver, alike able to save or to destroyk.” Hear Jehovah’s own declaration respecting this: “I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no Saviour. Before the day was, I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work; and who shall let it?” Does he meditate vengeance? this is his own awful asseveration, in the words immediately following my text: “I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever. If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh.” On the other hand, does he contemplate the exercise of mercy? this is the assurance that he gives his people: “I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel: I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing-instrument, having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.” In a word, He is a Potter, and we are the clay; and whether he is pleased to make, or mar, the vessel, none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thouo?]

Let us now proceed to notice,

  II.      His solemn call to the consideration of it—

“See now,” says he, “that this is my unquestionable, and unchangeable character:” and you are called to contemplate it,

  1.      That you may give him the glory of all that you have received—

[My Brethren, God is a holy and a jealous God: “his very name is, Jealous;” and “his glory he will not give to anotherq.” How fearfully he will resent any interference with him in this respect, may be seen in the case of Herod, who, when he was applauded for his eloquence, gave not God the glory; and God, in righteous displeasure, caused him to be “eaten up of worms, till he gave up the ghost.” But more especially is God jealous in relation to spiritual blessings, which must be ascribed to him alone. Indeed, he has so constituted the whole work of man’s salvation, that no particle of honour should be assumed by man, but all glory should be given to him, as “the author and the finisher of our faith.” “He has treasured up for us every thing in Christ Jesus;” and ordained, that we should “receive every thing out of his fulness,” looking to him as our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, and our complete redemption, “that no flesh should glory in his presence, but that all should glory in him aloneu.” Let this lesson, then, be learned by us, that God may receive from us all the glory of all that we possess; since “if we differ from others in any respect, it is he who has made us to differ; and we possess nothing which we have not gratuitously received from him.”]

  2.      That you may depend on him for all that you ever hope to receive—

[Here, also, God asserts his claim to our entire dependence: “Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and that maketh flesh his arm; and whose heart departeth from the Lord his God.” Especially in reference to every thing that concerns our salvation, does God require our undivided affiance: “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth! for I am God; and there is none elsez.” Every child of man, whatever he may possess, must rely on Christ alone, saying, “In the Lord have I righteousness and strength.” “In the Lord alone shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.” To this has God a very especial respect in the words of my text. If we look to the creature, or place any dependence on an arm of flesh, we must take the consequencesb. The creature “cannot do good, or do evil.” As to the idols on which the Jews were disposed to place their confidence, God says to them, “Ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.” So must it be said of every thing on which we are wont to rely; “It is a broken reed, which will only pierce the hand that resteth on it.” Trust ye, then, in the Lord, and in him alone: yea, “trust in him for ever: for with the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strengthe.”]

This subject, methinks, speaks,

  1.      Comfort to the true Christian—

[Respecting this glorious Being who is here described, it is your privilege to say, that “he is your God.” In truth, whatever you want, he describes himself as a God of that very thing, of “love,” of “mercy,” of “peace,” of “strength,” of “comfort,” of “all grace;” and in relation to that very thing will he “be a God unto you.” Seek him, then, in Christ Jesus; and glory in him as “your God and portion for ever.”]

  2.      Terror to those who have any other god—

[Who is that God that shall save you in the hour of your extremity? or, Where will ye flee for succour in the day of judgment? Indeed, indeed, there is no refuge for you, but in Christ; nor “any other name given under heaven but his, whereby you can be saved.”]

CCXXXVIII

A MINISTER’S DYING CHARGE TO HIS PEOPLE

  Deut. 32:46, 47.

Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this Law. For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life.

THIS song was composed in order “to be a witness for God against the children of Israel” to the remotest ages. It contains a summary of God’s dealings with them, and of the provocations whereby they constrained him at last to visit them with his heavy displeasure. At the same time, it gives an intimation of his mercies, which he has yet in reserve for them, when they and the Gentiles shall be incorporated into one Church, and become one fold under one Shepherd. Having recited this song in the ears of all the Elders of Israel, he entreats them to treasure it up in their hearts, and to impress it on the minds of the rising generation, that so it may answer the end for which it was composed.

From the counsel here given to all Israel, I will take occasion to shew,

  I.      The regard which we should manifest towards the Gospel of Christ—

The testimony of Moses, though comprised in this song, did, in fact, comprehend “all the words of God’s Law.” In like manner, that which I have testified amongst you, whilst, in fact, it comprehends the entire Gospel, may be comprised in these few words: “This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life; and this life is in his Son: he that hath the Son, hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life.” St. Paul, in still fewer words, sums it up in this significant expression, “Christ crucifiedd.”

Now the regard which this demands, is,

  1.      That you receive it cordially yourselves—

[It is not sufficient that you hear it, or approve of it, or form your sentiments in accordance with it: you must “set your hearts unto it:” you must feel towards it as you would towards a boat that was pressing towards you, whilst clinging to a plank in the midst of the ocean. You may form some conception of the eagerness with which you would welcome its arrival, and embrace the salvation which it offered you: and those very emotions should you realize, when a Saviour is set before you to deliver you from the guilt you have contracted, and the condemnation you have merited at the hands of your offended God — — — in this way must you set your hearts “unto ALL the words” which God has testified by my mouth: you must embrace the doctrines, as declaring what you are to believe; and with equal avidity are you to lay hold upon the precepts which God requires you to obey. Neither the one, nor the other, are to be viewed as hard sayings, which you would gladly modify to your own corrupt taste: but both of them are to be viewed as moulds, into which your whole soul is to be poured: so that in every thing you may be conformed to the mind and will of God — — —]

  2.      That you commend it earnestly to others—

[You are not to be content to go to heaven alone: you must endeavour to draw all you can along with you. Has God imparted to you knowledge? you must labour to communicate it. Has he given you influence? you must exert it to the utmost of your power. Has he invested you with authority? you must employ it for God. Are you as magistrates? you are “not to bear the sword in vain,” but to use it for him, whose representatives and vicegerents you are. Are you parents? you must, like Abraham, “command your children, and your household to keep the way of the Lord.” Advice is not sufficient. If that prevail, it is well: you have gained your end by gentle means; which should always be resorted to in the first instance: but, if advice will not effect your purpose, you must exert authority, yes, even though your children have arrived at man’s estate. Eli did reprove his sons, saying, “Nay, my sons, this is no good report that I hear of you; you make the Lord’s people to transgress.” But when he saw that they persevered in their iniquities, he should have turned them out of their priestly office: and because he neglected thus to exercise his authority, God visited him and his posterity with the heaviest judgments, even to many generations. To every parent, then, I say, The blood of your children will be required at your hands: and, though you cannot impart unto them any saving grace, you must keep a firm hand in restraining them from every thing that will be injurious to their souls; and must labour in every possible way to bring them to Christ, that they may be saved from wrath through him.]

And let me mark,

  II.      The reasonableness of our duty in relation to this matter—

The service of God altogether is “a reasonable service;” and more especially that duty commended to us in our text.

  1.      The testimony itself is highly worthy of our regard—

[What is it that we testify? It is, that God has redeemed us by the blood of his dear Son, and will cast out none who come to him in his Son’s name — — — And “is this a vain thing?” is it doubtful, so that we may question it? or unimportant, that we may trifle with it? Let the Apostle Paul determine this: “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” Yes, indeed; it is “no cunningly-devised feeble,’ but the very truth of God, to which the whole Scriptures bear witness: and it is “the very wisdom of God, yea, and the power of Godk,” so that, in comparison of it, there is nothing, either in heaven or earth, that gives any just conception of the Deity. In this mystery all the perfections of the Godhead unite, and harmonize, and are glorified.]

  2.      On our regard to it our eternal happiness depends—

[“It is our life, whether theoretically considered, or practically applied. Our blessed Lord says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” There is no way of reconciliation with God but through the sacrifice of Christ. No man can make atonement for his own sins: and every soul that would be saved, must “submit to the righteousness of God,” even to that mode of justification which God has proposed in his Gospelm. It was this that distinguished Abel from Cain: Cain brought an offering of the ground; but Abel, looking forward to the Saviour, brought a living sacrifice from his flock. And this is what we also must do. We must look to Christ, and believe in Christ, and lay our sins on him, as the Jewish offerer did on his sacrifice. If we do this, we shall be saved: for “all who believe in Christ shall be justified from all things:” but, if we do it not, “there remaineth for us no other sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation.”]

  I will now CONCLUDE, with drawing your attention to,

  1.      The circumstances under which this counsel was given—

[“On the self-same day” that his counsel was given, “was Moses to go up to Mount Abarim and die.” This, then, was the dying testimony of Moses. And I, if I were now on my dying-bed, would give to you precisely the same counsel, and entreat you all to “set your hearts to what I have this day testified amongst you.” “Lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, my beloved Brethren, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.” And to every individual I would say, “Teach them unto your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up: and thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thine house, and upon thy gates.” Use all possible means of bringing these things to your remembrances: but rest not satisfied, till they have wrought a thorough work upon your souls, and you are “cast into them as info a mould” that shall assimilate you altogether unto God’s perfect image.]

  2.      The circumstances which must infallibly ere long result from them—

[Of this counsel both you and your adviser must shortly give account at the judgment-seat of Christ. In God’s book of remembrance, every word is already recorded, together with the manner in which it has been both delivered and received. Fain would I, my Brethren, be “free from your blood,” in that awful day. I would, too, that “you also might, every one of you, deliver your own souls.” But it is indeed most painful to your minister to reflect, that perhaps at this very moment, whilst labouring to save your souls, he is sinking many of them into yet deeper perdition: for we may be sure, that, “if he who despised Moses’ Law died without mercy, there is a yet sorer punishment” awaiting those who despise the Gospel. I appeal to yourselves, “How shall ye escape, if ye neglect so great salvationy?” Now, then, let me prevail upon you to go unto your God, and to entreat of Him to write these things upon your hearts by his Holy Spirit: for I declare unto you, that “they are your life:” yes, “I call heaven and earth to record against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both ye and your seed may live.”]

CCXXXIX

THE BLESSING BESTOWED ON THE TRIBE OF LEVI

  Deut. 33:8, 9.

And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah; who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant.

AS the father of his people, Moses desired to bless them before his death; and the pronouncing of this blessing, in which he was endued with a spirit of prophecy, was the last act of his life. The grounds on which the blessing was bestowed on the tribe of Levi, are so peculiar, that they deserve a distinct consideration. There is manifestly a testimony given them of decided approbation: and from this circumstance commentators have been led to regard the whole of what is spoken in the text as of the same import; and to supply from conjecture what is nowhere noticed in the Mosaic history, or rather to contradict altogether what is plainly noticed. The conduct of Levi both at Massah (which was also called Meribah), and, above thirty-eight years afterwards, at another place called Meribah, was exceeding sinful. At the latter place in particular, both Moses and Aaron, as well as the people, offended God; and were for that offence doomed to die in the wilderness, and never to enter into the promised land. Hence it might have been supposed that God would punish the tribe of Levi and the house of Aaron by withdrawing from them the peculiar honours he had conferred upon them; but as on one occasion they had signalized themselves by a very exalted act of obedience, he was pleased to record what they had done, and to make it an occasion of continuing in their line the most distinguished testimonies of his regard. This sense accords with the history; to the very terms of which the text seems specifically to refer.

In the words before us there are two things particularly to be noticed;

  1.      The commendation of Levi—

The act for which they were commended was truly laudable—

[When the people throughout the camp of Israel were worshipping the golden calf, Moses, filled with indignation, called the Levites to him, and bade them gird on swords and slay the ringleaders in idolatry throughout the whole camp: and this order they executed immediately, without any respect of persons whatever: they spared not either their nearest relatives or their dearest friends; but slew of the people three thousand men.

This would be thought by many to be a savage act, and to deserve censure rather than praise: but it must be remembered, that God was, if I may so speak, their earthly Governor (they lived under a theocracy); and; that they acted in obedience to their supreme Magistrate: nor could cruelty be imputed to them any more than to any person who executes the laws amongst ourselves. They were justified in what they did, precisely as Phinehas was justified in destroying Zimri and Cozbi. The law itself required, that, if their nearest relative only enticed them to idolatry, even where there was no overt act committed, they should instantly give information against him, and with their own hands put him to death. But here was the overt act visible to all; and the civil magistrate was present to sanction their conduct: and therefore they were bound to obey the order given them, and to execute the laws with impartial severity. Hence their conduct is marked in our text as an act of obedience to God, and a “vindication of the quarrel of his covenant.”]

Nor is it by any means unconnected with our duty as Christians—

[Certainly we have nothing to do with the judgment of zeal, nor any right to take the execution of the laws into our own hands. But we should be zealous for the honour of God; and we ought, in subserviency to the laws, to exert ourselves for the suppression of open impiety and profaneness. More particularly are we bound to serve God ourselves, and to account all personal sacrifices as unworthy of a thought in comparison of our duty to him. Our Lord tells us, not only that “if we love father or mother more than him, we are not worthy of him;” but that we must “hate father and mother, yea, and our own lives also, if we would be his disciples.” Of course this must not be understood positively; (for the Gospel inspires nothing but love, and that even to our bitterest enemies:) but it must be taken comparatively; and be explained as intimating, that we should be so firm and decided in our obedience to him as to be altogether unmoved by the affection or menaces of our dearest friends, or even by the apprehensions of the most cruel death. Our Lord himself has set us an example in this respect: for, when some persons told him that his “mother and his brethren were standing without, and desirous to speak with him, he replied, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? Whosoever shall do the will of my Father, the same is my brother and sister and mother.” Thus must love to the Creator be the predominant affection in our hearts; and all inferior considerations must be subordinated to his glory.]

From the commendation given them we proceed to notice,

  II.      Their reward—

This may be considered as of two kinds;

  1.      Official honour—

[The Urim and Thummim were in some way united to the breast-plate of the high-priest; and by means of them he was enabled to discover the mind and will of God when he went in before the Lord to consult him on any particular occasion. What they were, and how they answered the purpose for which they were made, we are not informed: and therefore it is in vain to waste time in conjectures. Suffice it to say, that the high-priest who wore them was authorized to consult God in all public matters, and enabled to discover his mind and will. Now Moses prays, and indeed prophetically declares, that this high honour should descend to the posterity of Aaron: and that the service of the tabernacle should continue to be administered by the tribe of Levii. This was a most exalted privilege; and, above a thousand years afterwards, it was expressly declared to have been given as a reward of the obedience before referred to. What a glorious testimony was this, that God will suffer nothing that we do for him to pass unnoticed even here: much less shall it go unrewarded in a future world. Truly “them that honour God, God will honour;” and every one that will serve him shall receive an abundant “recompence of reward” — — —]

  2.      Personal benefit—

[The official honour was conferred on the posterity of those whose conduct was approved. But do we suppose that the immediate agents were overlooked, and that no blessing was bestowed on them? We can have no doubt but that they also had a recompence in their own bosoms. The import of the words Urim and Thummim is, Illuminations and Perfections: and these are the special benefits which God will confer on all his faithful servants. There is indeed a manifest connexion between the work and the reward. The work in this present instance was a vigorous maintenance of God’s honour, with an utter disregard of every consideration in comparison of it: and where that is, there will be a clear insight into the divine will, and a growing conformity to the divine image. Where internal rectitude is wanting, the mind will be obscured, and the feet will stumble: but “where the single eye is, there will the whole body be full of light,” and the conversation be regulated agreeably to the commands of God. Light in the mind, and holiness in the life, are mutually influential on each other: each will languish or be advanced, according as the other flourishes or decays: illumination and perfection will be the portion of the decided Christian: but darkness and inconsistency will be the fruit of a temporizing and timid conduct.]

  To prevent misapprehension or misconduct, we shall SUBJOIN a word,

  1.      Of caution—

[Let not any one imagine that religion countenances a fiery zeal on any occasion whatever. The conduct of the Levites has not been proposed for imitation under the gospel dispensation, any further than is necessary for the maintaining of steadfastness in our allegiance to God. We are not to wage war, except against our spiritual enemies: and even then the weapons of our warfare must not be carnal, but spiritual. In all the opposition which it may be necessary to make to our earthly friends or relatives, we must maintain a holy meekness and patience, not attempting to oppose evil by evil, but to “overcome evil with good.” The civil magistrate indeed may use the sword, and ought to be “a terror to evil-doers;” and all Christians should be ready to aid him in the suppression of iniquity: but in all private and personal concerns our only armour must be that which God himself has provided for us, and we must “overcome our enemies by the blood of the Lamb.”]

  2.      Of direction—

[Let a concern for God’s honour and your own spiritual advancement be paramount to all other considerations whatever. You must “not account even life itself dear to you, so that you may but finish your course with joy.” It must never be a question with you, whether you will perform any particular duty, however difficult it may be, or whatever self-denial it may require: your mind must be made up to “follow the Lord fully,” and to observe the commandments of God “without preferring one before another, and doing nothing by partiality.” This is the way to entail the blessing of God upon your souls, and to “grow both in knowledge and in grace.” But you must not attempt these things in your own strength: in order that you may be enabled to act thus, you must pray to “the God of peace to sanctify you wholly,” and to “make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ: to whom be glory for ever and ever: Amen.”]

CCXL

THE PRIVILEGE OF THOSE WHO LIVE NEAR TO GOD

  Deut. 33:12.

Of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him; and the Lord shall cover him all the day long.

AS God was pleased to communicate to some in former ages the knowledge of future events, so he frequently imparted to them the spirit of prophecy in a more abundant measure, about the time of their death. Thus Isaac and Jacob were peculiarly inspired at that season to foretell the things which should befall their children. Thus Moses also, when about to be gathered to his fathers, was commissioned to declare the states and circumstances of all the different tribes after their entrance into Canaan. Of Benjamin he foretold, that his tribe should be situated close to the place which God had chosen for himself; and that his proximity to the Lord’s immediate residence should be to him a source and occasion of the richest benefits.

If it be considered how comprehensive many of the prophecies are, and how the Apostles themselves continually apply them to the general circumstances of the Church of Christ, we shall not be thought to put a force upon the text, while we take occasion from it to set forth,

  I.      The state of God’s people—

The situation of the tribe of Benjamin may serve at least as an emblem to represent the state of “God’s beloved.” They are “a people near unto God,” “dwelling by him, and covered by him, all the day long.”

  1.      They maintain a sense of the divine presence—

[They not only cannot, like the generality, live “without God in the world,” or rest, as many professors of religion do. in a round of formal duties; they are sensible that “God searcheth the heart and trieth the reins.” They long to have a conviction of this fastened upon their minds, and to see, as it were, on every place this inscription written, “Thou, God, seest me.” They do not harbour secret sin because it is invisible to man; but, assured that “the darkness is no darkness with God,” and that he beholds the very counsels of the heart, they strive to “set him ever before them;” and to “walk in his fear all the day long.”]

  2.      They walk in dependence on the divine aid—

[They are scarcely more conscious of their own existence, than they are of their utter insufficiency for any thing that is good. They have so often failed through their reliance on their own strength, and they feel such a proneness to every species of iniquity, if left one moment to themselves, that they are compelled to cry to their God for help. And, if they were not sure that “the grace of Christ is sufficient” for all who trust in it, they would utterly despair of holding out unto the end. Hence their continual prayer is, “Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe:” and God imparts to them his promised assistance.]

  3.      They delight in doing the divine will—

[The “commandments of God are not grievous” to them. Their only grief is, that they do not obey them with greater readiness and joy. Not but that they often find the workings of an evil principle, that would bring them back again into captivity to sin and Satan: but, through the operation of the blessed Spirit, they are enabled to get the victory over their corrupt nature, and both to obey the law outwardly, and to “delight in it after their inward man.” They would gladly do the will of God on earth, as it is done in heaven, without reluctance, without weariness, and without reserve.]

There doubtless is a great difference between the attainments of different saints: yet this is, on the whole, the state of all; and that they are blessed in it will appear by considering,

  II.      The privileges they enjoy by means of it—

While the saints thus live nigh to God, God “keeps them in safety,” and covers them,

  1.      From the curse of the law—

[We might speak of their deliverance even from temporal evils: since they have none which are not sanctified to their souls, and made blessings in disguise. But respecting spiritual evils we are warranted to speak with the fullest confidence. The saints may, it is true, be left to dread the wrath of God: but it shall never come upon themg. While they are endeavouring to walk in communion with God, in dependence on him, and obedience to him, they hare nothing to fear. God has pledged himself, that they shall never perish.]

  2.      From the assaults of Satan—

[Satan will indeed exert all his power to destroy them; but he shall not finally prevail against them. He may “buffet them,” and cast “his fiery darts” at them; but he is a vanquished enemy; and shall, ere long, be bruised under the feet of even the weakest saints. Like the kings whom Joshua subdued, all the powers of hell shall one day be brought out of their dungeons, to receive, from the very lips of those whom now they persecute, the sentence they so justly meritk.]

  3.      From the power and prevalence of sin—

[Notwithstanding “the law of sin in their members,” God’s promise to all his people is, that “sin shall not have dominion over them.” As by the operation of fire on the hearth we may see what it would effect, if suffered to extend itself over the whole house, so by the working of sin in our hearts we may clearly see, to what a state we should quickly De reduced, if God should suffer it to rage with all its force. But he fulfils his word: and though thousands of times we have been, as it were, on the very brink of falling, God has interposed by his providence or grace to preserve our souls: and we remain to this day living monuments of his almighty power, and unchanging faithfulness.]

  EXHORTATION—

  1.      Let us seek to become “the beloved of the Lord”—

[We account it no small happiness to be beloved of our fellow-creatures; but how much more to be beloved of the Lord! Whose favour is comparable to his? whose so honourable, so permanent, so beneficial? Let us then go to him in the name of Jesus; for whose sake we shall be admitted to his favour, and be “blessed by him with all spiritual blessings.”]

  2.      Let us endeavour to live more and more near to God—

[It is our privilege to dwell in God, and to have God dwelling in us. We might “walk with God,” as Enoch did, and though not visibly, yet really, converse with him as our friend. And what greater encouragement can we desire, than that which the text affords? Others may fall; but we shall be “covered, and kept in safety:” others may apostatize to their perdition; but we shall be preserved through faith unto everlasting salvationq.]

CCXLI

STRENGTH ACCORDING TO OUR DAYS

  Deut 33:25.

As thy days, so shall thy strength be.

PREVIOUS to his departure from them, Moses pronounced a blessing on all the tribes of Israel. The blessing to each was appropriate and prophetic. That assigned to Asher was, that his posterity should be numerous and happy; that his provision should be abundant, and his strength, under every emergency, fully adequate to the occasion. It is thought indeed by some, that the promise, “thy shoes shall be iron and brass,” referred to mines in that part of Canaan which should be allotted to them: but it appears to me to import rather, that they should be possessed of great power; and to agree exactly with that address of the Prophet Micah to Zion, “Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion! for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass; and thou shalt beat in pieces many people.” Then the meaning of our text will be clear; namely, that whatever difficulties they might have to contend with, they should find their strength sufficient for them.

Now, though many parts of the blessings here pronounced were doubtless so peculiar as to have no reference except to the particular tribe to which they were addressed, yet such parts as were of a more general nature may, without impropriety, be more largely applied to the Israel of God in all ages. Such parts will be found in almost all the addresses to the different tribes; and the promise in our text most assuredly admits of such an interpretation. The promise made to Joshua, “I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee,” might appear to belong to him only, as the individual to whom it was personally addressed. Yet St. Paul applied it generally to the whole Church of God in all ages; and authorized all saints, in every period of the world, to regard it as spoken equally to themselves, and to expect most assuredly its accomplishment in their own persons: “God hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper; I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” In like manner, we may interpret this blessing, which was primarily addressed to the tribe of Asher, as properly belonging to all the people of God; so far, at least, as they may be in circumstances which call for similar support.

That we may enter the more fully into the meaning of this promise, I will point out distinctly,

  I.      What it supposes and implies—

It is here evidently supposed that the Lord’s people will have seasons of trial, which will call for more than ordinary support.

And such seasons do sooner or later occur to all; seasons,

  1.      Of temptation—

[Who is there that does not experience more or less the temptations of Satan? He is not an inactive adversary. At no time is he unobservant of our frame, or unprepared to gain an advantage over us: but there are some times which he selects for his attacks, when he promises himself a more easy victory, and when he puts forth all his devices to draw us into sin. His wiles are unsearchable: innumerable also are the modes in which he makes his assaults upon us. Sometimes he assumes the appearance of an angel of light: at other times his own proper character is clearly marked in the blasphemies which he suggests to our minds: and, on all such occasions, if we were not succoured from on high, we should fall before him, as lambs before a devouring lion.

The world, too, presents its temptations on every side: it proposes to us its pleasures, its riches, its honours, as objects that may well stand in competition with Jehovah himself, and rival him in our affections.

And our own corrupt hearts, too, are ready enough to indulge all manner of irregular desires, and to draw us into the commission of actual sin.

What would become of us, if, at such seasons as these, we had none to succour us, no arm but our own to help us?]

  2.      Of trouble—

[“We are born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward:” it is the inheritance of every child of man. No one is exempt: a king upon his throne is open to its incursions, no less than the meanest of his subjects. In his own person, he is exposed to pains and disorders: in his family, to feuds and bitter bereavements: in his circumstances, to all the varieties of change, embarrassment, and loss. To all of these the saints are exposed, as well as others; whilst they are oppressed with many troubles peculiar to themselves. What they often endure from the workings of corruption, the hidings of God’s face, the assaults of Satan, the fear of death and judgment, can little be conceived by those who fear not God. Most generally, too, they are exposed to hatred and persecution for righteousness’ sake; and find amongst their “greatest foes the people of their own household.” True it is, that we are not in the present day called to “resist unto blood:” but let it not, therefore, be accounted a small matter to be treated with contempt by friends and enemies, and to be reduced to the alternative of sacrificing all that we hold dear in this life, or the hopes and prospects of a better. These are great and heavy trials: and every child of God must expect to be conformed to his Lord and Saviour in the endurance of them.]

  3.      Of difficulty—

[Truly spiritual obedience is at all times difficult: and how much more so under such circumstances as those in which Daniel and the Hebrew Youths were placed! To resist an ordinance of a powerful monarch, when the whole empire were joining in the observance of it, and when that disobedience was menaced with a fiery furnace; and to maintain steadfastly the public worship of Jehovah, when, by a temporary neglect or concealment of it, an exposure in a den of lions might be avoided—were no easy matters. It surely needed much grace to maintain a good conscience under such circumstances. And there will be, in the experience of every saint, some special occasions where a strict adherence to duty is inconceivably difficult and painful. Such “days” the promise in our text teaches us to expect, and against such days it makes for us a merciful provision.]

But let us distinctly state,

  II.      What it engages and assures—

Whatever our trials be, strength shall be given us in proportion to them: and our communications from God shall be,

  1.      Seasonable—in respect of tune—

[Often, if succour were delayed, we should fall a prey to our great adversary. But “God’s eves run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in behalf of them that fear him:” and the very instant he sees us ready to sink, he interposes for our help. He has promised that he would do so: “He will judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and that there is none shut up or leftd.” “In the very mount” of difficulty “he will be seen.” The Apostle Paul experienced this on a very trying occasion. When summoned before that bloody tyrant, Nero, “all his friends forsook him; but the Lord stood by him, and strengthened him, that through him the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear.” Had he not been thus strengthened in the very hour of need, his courage might have failed: but by this seasonable interposition of the Deity, he was enabled to maintain his ground, and execute the trust committed to him. And David also attests that this was his frequent experience: “In the day when I cried, thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.”]

  2.      Suitable—to the particular occasion—

[Different are the communications that are wanted under different circumstances. Sometimes wisdom is necessary: and that shall be imparted as our necessities may require. This was promised, in a more especial manner, by our Lord to his disciples: “When they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say; for the Holy Ghost shall teach you in that tame hour what ye ought to say.” If patience be wanted, that in like manner shall be supplied: for “he will strengthen us with all might by his Spirit in the inner man, unto all patience, and long-suffering with joyfulnessh.” If faith be that which is more especially necessary for the soul, he will impart that in richer abundance. We have a very striking instance of this in Peter. Our Lord had forewarned him that he would deny his Master: and if Peter, after the perpetration of this evil, had given way to despondency, he would have perished in his iniquity, just as Judas did. But our Lord “prayed for him, that his faith might not fail:” and through the operation of this grace upon his soul, he was kept from destruction, and restored to the favour of his God. In a word, the grace which he will bestow in the time of need shall be a tree of life in the soul, “bringing forth its fruit in its season,” yea, “twelve manner of fruitsk,” according to the occasion that may call for them, and the season to which they may be suited.]

  3.      Sufficient for our utmost necessities—

[“Our strength shall be fully equal to our day.” Let our weakness be ever so great, or our trial ever so heavy, our Lord “will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able; but will, with the temptation, make for us a way to escape, that we maybe able to bear it.” Certainly, the trials of St. Paul were as numerous and heavy as ever were sustained by mortal man: and under them, especially under that which he calls a thorn in his flesh, and the buffetings of Satan, he cried mightily to the Lord for deliverance. The answer given to him by our Lord was, “My grace is sufficient for thee; and my strength shall be made perfect in weakness.” Now, behold, how all his troubles were in an instant turned into occasions of joy! “Most gladly, therefore,” says he, “will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” And from that time we find him hurling defiance at all his enemies, how numerous and powerful soever they might be: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation? or distress? or persecution? or famine? or nakedness? or peril? or sword? Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through Him that loved us. And I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”]

As the promise made to the tribe of Asher may fitly be applied to believers generally, let us consider,

  III.      What it speaks more especially to God’s peculiar people—

Truly, it is a most instructive passage of Holy Writ: for it shews, to all God’s believing people,

  1.      The grounds of their security—

[Believers, or unbelievers, we have no strength in ourselves: our strength is in God alone: and, if ever we be strong at all, it must “be in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” His power, as engaged for us, and his fidelity, as pledged to us, are the true, and proper, and only grounds of a sinner’s hope. Let the promise which we are now considering be apprehended, and relied upon, and pleaded in faith and prayer, and we can have nothing to fear. “A very worm.” so supported, shall “thresh the mountains.” “If God be for us, none can be against usq” — — —]

  2.      The reason of their falls—

[Notwithstanding what is spoken in the text, it is certain that many saints do fall, and that most grievously. But whence is this? Is not God “able to make them stand?” or is He not “faithful who hath promiseds?” Know ye, Brethren, that the fault is not in God; but in his people themselves, who either become unwatchful, and are therefore left to reap the fruits of their heedlessness; or indulge self-confidence, and are therefore given up for a season to betray their weakness and folly. To these causes must be traced the falls of David and of Peter. If God have engaged to “keep the feet of his saints.” he has not given them therefore a licence to rush into temptation, or to relax their vigilance, or to confide in themselves. His word is true: and he will fulfil it to all who plead it with him. But if we grow remiss and careless, he will leave us to “eat the fruit of our own ways, and to be filled with our own devices.” I will ask of any one that has been left to dishonour God, and to wound his own soul; “Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the Lord, when he led thee by the way?” He has warned thee that it should be thus: “The Lord is with you, while ye be with him: if ye seek him, he will be found of you: but if ye forsake him, he will forsake youy.”]

  3.      The extent of their privileges—

[Weak as we are, and in the midst of enemies, still he would have us “without carefulness.” He has bidden us to “cast all our care on Him who careth for us.” He considers himself as dishonoured when we indulge any doubts or fears: “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faitha?” “Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God? Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary: there is no searching of his understanding? He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might, he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and he weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up on wings as eagles; they shall “run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.” “Know, then, in whom you have believed; that He is both able and willing to keep that which you have committed to himc.” And let not any dangers, however imminent, appal you. “Say not ye, A confederacy, to all them to whom others shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid: but sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself: and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread: and he will be to you for a sanctuary.” O blessed tidings! Rejoice in them, Beloved, and realize them in your souls. Then shall you enjoy both stability and peace: for “God will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on him. Trust ye, therefore, in the Lord for ever: for with the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.”]

CCXLII

THE HAPPINESS OF GOD’S PEOPLE

  Deut. 33:29.

Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency!

THE God of Israel is infinitely exalted above all the gods of the heathen: and though there cannot be any such disparity between one creature and another, as between the Creator and the creature, yet is there a wonderful difference between the people of God and all other people upon the face of the whole earth. This indeed is a necessary consequence of the former: for, if there be no god like the God of Israel, there can be no people like the Israel of God, since they, and they only, have Jehovah for their God. These truths are united in the passage before us: the former had been mentioned in a preceding verse; and, in the text, the latter is declared, together with its dependence on the former.

From these words we shall consider,

  I.      The happiness of God’s people—

The manner in which Moses speaks on this subject is worthy of notice: we may observe in his address to Israel a strong persuasion of the truth he was uttering, an unfeigned delight in declaring it, and an affectionate solicitude, that they might both be persuaded of it themselves, and live in the comfortable enjoyment of it. He affirms that they were,

  1.      Truly happy—

[It is God’s own declaration, “Happy art thou, O Israel!” and, if appearances were ever so unfavourable, we might be sure that his judgment was according to truth. But this testimony agrees with the experience of God’s people in every age. They are represented as possessing a “peace that passeth understanding,” and a “joy that is unspeakable and glorified.” Is it objected that they are also represented as mourning, as temptedc, as persecuted? True; yet none of these things interfere with their real happiness; yea, instead of destroying, they advance ite. If then they can be happy in such situations as these, and even derive happiness from these situationsg, they must be truly happy.]

  2.      Incomparably happy—

[It is God himself who challenges all mankind to vie with his people; and this too, not in respect of privileges merely, or of prospects, but in respect of present enjoyments. Who are they that will presume to rival the Lord’s people? Ye great, ye rich, ye gay, what is your happiness, when compared with that which God’s Israel possess? Is not all your happiness mixed with gall? Is it not altogether dependent on the creature? Is it not cloying, even in the very possession? Do you not find it transient, and, on the whole, delusive, promising far more in the anticipation than it ever affords in the enjoyment? In all these things it is the very reverse of the Christian’s happiness. His, as far as it is derived from spiritual things, is unmixed: none can rob him of it, because none can intercept the visits of his God: no man was ever surfeited with spiritual delights: if we lived to the age of Methuselah, we might, by a retrospect, revive a sense of them in our souls: and, if our expectations be raised to ever so high a pitch, the reality will far exceed them. We will therefore confidently repeat the challenge, and say, as in the text, “Who is like unto thee, O people, saved by the Lord?”]

To shew that this is no enthusiastic conceit, we proceed to notice,

  II.      The grounds of their happiness—

It will soon appear that their blessedness is not a baseless fabric, if we consider,

  1.      What God has done for them—

[They are “a people saved by the Lord.” Salvation is not a blessing which they merely hope for, but which they already possess. They are saved from the guilt and punishment of sin: all “their iniquities are blotted out;” and there remains “no condemnation to them:” they are “complete in Christ;” they stand “before God without spot or blemish.” But great as this mercy is, they would not be truly happy, if they were not also saved from the power and dominion of sin. It is true, they yet carry about with them a “body of sin and death;” but they never commit iniquity as they were wont to do in their unregenerate state: they “cannot sin thus, because they are born of God, and his seed remaineth in them.” God has promised that “sin shall not have dominion over them;” and they experience the accomplishment of this promise to their souls, being “redeemed from all iniquity, and purified unto God a peculiar people zealous of good works.”

And is not this salvation a ground of happiness, more especially if we consider by whom it was procured, and by whom conferred? It was “the Lord,” even Jesus, who purchased our freedom from guilt; and it is “the Lord,” even the Holy Ghost, who vouchsafes us a deliverance from sin. Surely such a salvation, bought at such a price, and imparted by such an agent, cannot but be a source of unspeakable felicity to the soul.]

  2.      What God will be unto them—

[In vain would all past mercies be, if they were not secured to them by the continued agency of Jehovah. A vessel fitted out and freighted, would not more certainly be overwhelmed by storms, if destitute of a pilot, than man, however gifted, would become a prey to Satan, if he were not constantly aided and protected by his God. But Israel is happy in this respect also, since, notwithstanding he is yet upon the field of battle, he is placed, if we may so speak, beyond the reach of harm. He is not only furnished with defensive and offensive armour, but has God himself for his “shield,” and God himself for his “sword;” so that his enemies must elude Omniscience, before they can destroy him; and must withstand Omnipotence if they do not fall before him. Hence it is that he attains such “excellency,” and proves victorious in all his conflicts.

View the believer thus environed, and thus armed, and you may well say to him, “Happy art thou, O Israel! who is like unto thee?” for the salvation he already possesses, is a pledge and earnest of his everlasting triumphs.]

  APPLICATION—

[To whom, besides the true Israel, can we venture to say, “Happy art thou?” Art thou happy, who, instead of having experienced salvation, art yet under the guilt and power of all thy sins; and, instead of having Jehovah for thy shield and thy sword, hast the almighty God for thine enemy? Deceive not thyself: thou mayest dream of happiness; but thou art in a pitiable condition. So far art thou from rivalling the happiness of Israel, thou art even inferior to the beasts that perish; and, if thou wert sensible of thy state, thou wouldest envy them their prospect of annihilation. Oh, if ever thou wouldest be happy, seek to be “saved by the Lord,” even by the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus, and by the sanctifying influences of his Spirit. What Moses said to his father-in-law, that would God’s people say to thee, “Come thou with us, and we will do thee good; for God has spoken good concerning Israel.”

As for you who are of the true Israel, seek to be as distinguished for your holiness, as you are for your happiness. When we speak of your felicity, the world cannot understand us, because they are strangers to your feelings. But they can judge of holiness with some considerable degree of accuracy; and your superiority in this respect will be more effectual for their conviction, than all that can be said respecting the happiness of your state. Endeavour then so to live, that we may challenge the world to produce any persons comparable to you in holiness. Enable us to say with confidence, Who is like unto thee, O Israel? Who is dead to the world, as thou art? Who abounds in all holy duties, in all devout affections, in all amiable dispositions, like thee? This will silence those who call your happiness enthusiasm, and will convince them, that you are superior to others, “not in word and in tongue, but in deed and in truth.”]

JOSHUA

Josh. 1:7–9.

Josh. 2:8–14.

Josh. 4:20–24.

Josh. 5:8–10.

Josh. 5:13, 14.

Josh. 6:20, 21.

Josh. 7:8.

Josh. 7:19, 20.

Josh. 8:26.

Josh. 9:15.

Josh. 10:24, 25.

Josh. 11:23.

Josh. 18:3.

Josh. 22:4, 5.

Josh. 22:11, 12.

Josh. 23:10, 11.

Josh. 23:14.

Josh. 24:21–27.

CCXLIII

CHRISTIAN FORTITUDE

  Josh. 1:7–9.

Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the Law which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

IN an address to Joshua, when about to invade a country “wherein were seven nations greater and mightier than he,” we might well expect a charge to him to “be strong and very courageous:” but we should naturally suppose, that the exhortation to fortitude would have respect chiefly, if not exclusively, to the enemies whom he was about to encounter: whereas his enemies are left, as it were, altogether out of sight; and no notice is taken but of the Law of God, as that towards which his courage should be exercised. But, as all his success depended entirely upon God, it was indispensably necessary that he should secure the divine favour; which could not be done but by an obedience to God’s commands: and an unreserved obedience to them would, in fact, require in him a stronger principle of courage, than the most formidable enemies would give occasion for. In confirmation of this, I will shew,

  I.      Wherein the fortitude of a Christian soldier should chiefly display itself—

He is to contend with all the enemies of his salvation, in obedience to the laws of God—

[The world, the flesh, and the devil, are the enemies with whom he is to fight — — — Now, a soldier in the army of an earthly prince is to act in all things according to certain rules, which are laid down for him in a code of laws drawn up for that specific purpose: these are called the Articles of War; and with them he is to be conversant, in order that he may conform himself to them in all things. The Christian soldier, also, has his code drawn up for him by God himself, and revealed to him in the Oracles of Truth. This code he is to study with all diligence, and “to meditate on it day and night,” that there may be in him an accordance with it in every particular. “Never is he to turn aside from it, to the right hand or to the left.” However difficult or self-denying its injunctions, he must obey it: and by it, as a test, must he try all the instruction or advice given to him in relation to his conduct. It must be so sacred in his eyes, that he will die rather than depart from it in any thing. If blamed in any thing, as too scrupulous and too strict, he must refer to that as his standard: “it must be ever in his mouth,” as well as in his heart; and he must inculcate on others the same observance as he pays to it himself.]

And this will require all the courage that any man can possess—

[It will require no little courage so to subdue and mortify all his corrupt inclinations, as to have them brought into subjection to the laws of God. And to maintain such an habit in the midst of an ungodly world, will expose him to the heaviest trials. A man who enlists in an army has but to contend with enemies: but the Christian soldier will have to maintain sore conflicts even with his friends: yea, “his greatest foes will be those of his own household.” Nor is it only for a season, during a few campaigns, that he must fight; but every day, every hour, throughout his whole life. He is never off the field of battle: he is never at liberty to relax his vigilance for a single hour. His armour must be girt upon him day and night. The weapons, too, with which he is assaulted, are formidable in the extreme. Shall it be thought that death alone has its terrors? I scruple not to say, that there are thousands who would find it easier to face a battery of cannon, than to withstand the sneers, and pity, and contempt, and ridicule, of their nearest and dearest friends. Not but that the Christian soldier must be prepared to “resist even unto blood.” If he will not lay down his life for Christ, he cannot be his disciple. And does not this require courage? Worldly soldiers have many things to animate and imbolden them, which the Christian soldier wants. They are surrounded by multitudes, who are engaged in the same contest, and who invigorate one another by their voices and example; but he engages alone, or nearly so, at the point of attack, and at the time that he is most pressed. They are applauded in proportion to their exertions, and commend themselves to the esteem of all who behold them: but the more strenuously the Christian soldier exerts himself, the more is he hated and despised by all who ought to encourage and commend him: and, instead of looking for any reward in this life, he knows that to his dying hour he has no other treatment to expect. Verily, it is not for nought that the Christian soldier is bidden to be strong and very courageous: for there is more need of a principle of fortitude in him, than in any other person under heaven.]

Let us however notice, on the other hand,

  II.      The encouragement which God himself affords to all who desire to serve him in truth—

As he reminded Joshua of the grounds he had for encouragement, so he would have us to consider,

  1.      In whose service we are engaged—

[“Have not I commanded thee?” Yes, it is the God of heaven whose battles we fight, and in whose service we are engaged. Were it only an earthly monarch to whom we had devoted ourselves, we ought to serve him with all fidelity: what, then, should we not do for the King of kings, who has not only chosen us to be his soldiers, but has himself taken the field for our sakes, to subdue our enemies, and to deliver us from their assaults? I Contemplate Jehovah as our Covenant-God—contemplate him as assuming our very nature on purpose to fight our battles—rounder him as submitting to death itself, that on the very cross he might “spoil the principalities and powers of hell,” and “lead captivity itself captive.”–This is “the Captain of our salvation” under whom we fight; and shall not that encourage us? Suppose the whole universe combined against us, and issuing their orders that we shall not obey so strictly the laws of God; what reply should we make, but that of the Apostles, “Whether it be right to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye; for we cannot but fulfil his will and execute His commands.”]

  2.      The pledge he gives us of his presence and support—

[“Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed; for the Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest,” said the Lord to Joshua: and says he not the same to us, “Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world?” Now, imagine a soldier with his commander and his prince always at his side: would he not be stirred up by that to acts of valour, which, in the absence of such a stimulus, he would be unable to put forth? Know, then, that your God is ever with you; and with you, not only as a Witness of your actions, but as a Helper, to strengthen you, to uphold you, to combat with you. What encouragement can you desire beyond this? Hear his own words, addressed to every soldier in his army: “Fear not, for I am with thee: be not dismayed, for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” What matters it, then, how many there may be against you? If they were as numerous as the sands upon the sea-shore, you may boldly say, “There are more with you than with them.” In fact, “If God be for you, who can be against you?” They may assault you, and boast of their triumphs; but they can do nothing, but in accordance with his will, and in subserviency to his designs.]

  3.      The assurance he gives us of ultimate success—

[“Then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and thou shalt have good success.” You are persecuted: you are imprisoned; you are put to death: but are you vanquished? Was the Saviour overcome when he was put to death? Did he not “by death overcome him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver those who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage?” “He was the stone which the builders rejected: but, is he not the Headstone in the corner?” Know, then, that you are not to estimate victory by the present and temporary effects, but by the ultimate and everlasting results. Be it so: you are sorely oppressed, and your enemies are exulting over you: but God’s word is not broken: for tribulation is the way to glory; and the cross precedes the crown. Only be content to suffer with Christ; and be assured you shall speedily be “glorified together.”]

  ADDRESS—

  1.      Let none expect victory without conflicts—

[What shall we say of the religion of your enemies? Has it any resemblance to the religion of the Bible? Are they hated for righteousness’ sake? No: the world cannot hate them, because they are of the world. You, on the contrary, are hated purely because you will conform yourselves to the laws of God. Be thankful, then, that ye have this evidence that ye are the Lord’s.]

  2.      Let none doubt of victory, who fight in dependence on the Lord’s strength, and in conformity to his commands—

[Be strong, and very courageous to do his will — — —But take special care what kind of fortitude it is that you maintain. There is an unhallowed boldness, which savours of pride and vain-glory. You cannot be too much on your guard against this. Yours must be a passive fortitude, such as Christ manifested when “he was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and opened not his mouth.” You are to “love your enemies, to bless them that curse you, and to pray for them that despitefully use you.” “You are not to be overcome of evil, but to overcome evil with good.” In you are to be seen “the meekness and gentleness of Christ.” Only fight with these weapons, and, “even though ye be slain like sheep, ye shall be more than conquerors.”]

CCXLIV

RAHAB PROTECTS THE SPIES

  Josh. 2:8–14.

And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof: and she said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For 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. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath. Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token: and that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death. And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the Lord hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.

GOD is pleased to accomplish his promises by the use of means: to neglect the means therefore is to tempt him, rather than to trust in him; and to expect the end without using the means is not faith, but presumption. Hence the strongest believers have always accounted it their duty to exert themselves as much as if success depended solely on their exertions; whilst, on the other hand, they placed their hopes in God, as much as if no effort whatever were used by themselves. Joshua had no doubt respecting his ultimate success in conquering and possessing the land of Canaan: yet, as every prudent General endeavours to obtain information respecting the state of any fortified city which he is about to besiege, before he proceeds actually to invest it, so Joshua felt it his duty to send spies to ascertain the state of Jericho, before he passed over Jordan to attack it. To the spies themselves the undertaking was perilous in the extreme: yet they went forth in humble reliance on their God, and were almost miraculously preserved from falling into the hands of their enemies. The manner of their preservation is here circumstantially related: it was effected solely by the good offices of a woman who lived in the city, and to whom they were providentially directed. Her name was Rahab; and she is constantly in the Scriptures called an harlot; but whether she was at that time an harlot, or was a reformed character, we know not: but this is plain, that her mind was wonderfully overruled by God to screen and protect them. The interposition of God in this matter seems to have been not unlike to that which fifteen hundred years afterwards led to the conversion of Cornelius. Cornelius was instructed in a vision to send for Peter, and was directed where to find him: and at the same time Peter was instructed in a vision to go to him, notwithstanding he was a Gentile. Thus the minds of the spies were directed to the only person in the city that would have afforded them an asylum; and her mind was directed to prefer their safety before every other consideration whatever. The conduct of Rahab on this occasion is repeatedly mentioned in the New Testament, and that too in terms peculiarly honourable to her. We shall find it therefore not unprofitable to consider,

  I.      The service she rendered—

In speaking upon this part of our subject, we shall notice separately,

  1.      What she did—

[From the first interview which she had with the spies, she knew the true object of their mission; and determined to advance it to the utmost of her power. Her first object therefore was to prevent any discovery: and for this purpose she conducted them to the roof of her house, and there covered them with stalks of flax. As she had foreseen, they were traced to her house, and messengers from the king were sent to apprehend them. She acknowledged that they had been there, but said that they were gone away but a little before, and, if pursued immediately, would certainly be taken. Thus she avoided all suspicion of favouring them, and prevented all further inquiries about them at her house. Having succeeded thus far, she went up to them, and asked of them an assurance, that they, in return for this kindness, would spare her and all her family, when they should take the city. To this they bound themselves and all Israel by a solemn oath; stipulating, however, that the matter should be kept a profound secret; that her family should all be collected under her roof; and that a scarlet line, by which she let them down from her window, should be bound in the window, to prevent any mistake. The instructions which she gave them for the avoiding of their pursuers, were such as prudence directed: these they followed implicitly; and after hiding themselves three days in a neighbouring mountain, they returned across the fords to their own camp in safety. Thus did she effectually preserve the spies that Joshua had sent.]

  2.      From what principle she acted—

[It certainly appears strange, that she should so betray her king and country; and stranger still, that she should be commended by God himself for this conduct; more especially when we find, that she uttered various falsehoods for the attainment of her end. Let us then investigate this point.

The principle from which she acted, was faith. Of this we are assured on the authority of an inspired Apostle; “By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.” The same is manifest in the account before us. She believed that the God of Israel was the only true God. She believed that God was the great Disposer of all events: that he had given the land of Canaan to his people Israel: that he had miraculously opened a way for them through the Red Sea, at their first coming out of Egypt: that he had enabled them to destroy Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites, and to take possession of their land: and that he would infallibly accomplish his promises to them, in the total subjugation of the Canaanites. All this is evident from the very words of our text. Now, if we consider how contracted were the views even of the pious Israelites at that time, this faith, strong and assured as it was, was truly wonderful: it might justly be said of her, as of another Canaanitish woman, “O woman, great is thy faith! I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”

But here arises a question of considerable difficulty: How can we reconcile the falsehoods which she uttered with the professions which she made, and with the commendations given her in the Scriptures? To solve this difficulty, commentators have had recourse to various expedients; some extenuating, some justifying, and some altogether condemning her conduct. But we apprehend that the true solution must be found in the strength and assurance of her faith: she herself said, not, “I fear,” or, “I believe,” but, “I know that the Lord hath given you the land.” She was fully assured that it was in vain to fight against God: that, if these two spies were put to death, it would make no difference whatever as to the issue of the contest: that the whole city and all its inhabitants would infallibly be destroyed: and that the only possible way of securing herself and family would be to submit to the God of Israel, and to unite themselves to his people. To what purpose then would it be to deliver up the spies? it would not save one single life: it would only be to continue fighting against God, and to bring on herself and all her family that destruction which it was now in her power to avert. By concealing the spies she, in fact, could injure nobody; but by giving them up, she would sacrifice, both for herself and family, all hopes of life either in this world or the world to come. At the same time that this view of the matter gives the easiest solution to the difficulty, it serves to explain the commendation given to her by the Apostle James: “Was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?” Yes; she did by this act evince the reality and strength of her faith, and prove, that she had determined to cast herself entirely, both for time and for eternity, upon the mercy of the God of Israel.

If it is asked, whether faith in God will produce, or even countenance, falsehood; we answer, No: but that question does not fairly belong to the subject: let it be asked, whether Elisha was justified in deceiving the Syrian army, and leading them from Dothan, whither they had come to destroy him, to Samaria, where they were brought into the power of the king of Israel? Or, if the cases be thought not sufficiently parallel, let any one ask, whether, if a maniac were coming to destroy his whole family, he should not think himself justified in denying them to him, when no evil could accrue to the maniac himself by means of it, and the preservation of so many lives depended on it? Yet even this case, strong as it would be, would fall very far short of Rahab’s, whose eternal, no less than temporal, interests depended on her forwarding the purposes of Heaven. But, whether we justify or condemn her conduct, it can afford no precedent to us: for, before we can plead her example in justification of treachery or falsehood, we must be circumstanced like her, which it is nearly impossible we should ever be.]

Such was the service which she rendered to the Lord. Let us now consider,

  II.      The reward she obtained—

This was greater far than ever she herself could have conceived—

  1.      She and all her family were preserved—

[In a few days, Joshua and all his army appeared before the city; and, by God’s special interposition, took it. The sign before agreed upon had been attended to by Rahab, and the two very persons with whom the agreement had been made were sent to secure the execution of it. They went to the house, brought out Rahab and all her family, and placed them in safety near the camp of Israel: then the order was given to burn the whole city, and to destroy every one of its inhabitants without exception. The fulfilment of the covenant which the spies had entered into is particularly noticed at the taking of Jericho; and Rahab herself long continued in Israel a monument of the mercy of God and of the fidelity of his people.

This alone was an exceeding great reward: to be so distinguished herself; and, after all the distress which her former wickedness had occasioned to her family, to be made an instrument of saving all their lives, surely this was an inestimable benefit, and assimilated her to the angels which rescued Lot and his family from the flames of Sodom.]

  2.      She is enrolled amongst the number of God’s most eminent saints—

[We have already had occasion to refer to the testimony of two Apostles in her behalf. The very scope of one was to illustrate the transcendent excellence of faith, and of the other to shew its operative and transforming power: by both of them is she united with the patriarch Abraham himself: and by one she is said to be justified by this work of hers, as Abraham was justified by offering up his son Isaac on the altar. The boon she desired was, temporal life; and behold, here was given to her spiritual and eternal life. How loudly did this proclaim to Israel the determination of God to incorporate with them in due time the Gentile world! And how strongly does it declare to us, that “where sin has abounded, grace shall much more abound!” Methinks, as Paul says of himself, that “for this cause he obtained mercy, that in him the chief of sinners God might shew forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them that shall hereafter believe on him to life everlasting,” so we may say of this woman. O that all the harlots in the world could hear of the mercy shewed to this notorious prostitute! Despised as they are and abandoned by their fellow-creatures, O that they knew what compassion for them exists in the bosom of their God! They usually persist in their wickedness, through an utter despair of obtaining the mercy and grace which they stand in need of: but here they might see, that the vilest of sinners may become the most eminent of saints. Our Lord indeed tells us, that publicans and harlots are often more willing to seek for mercy than proud self-complacent moralists: O that the instance before us might lead many to repentance, and that, like another of whom we read, “having had much forgiven, they may love much!”]

  3.      She was made an ancestor of the Messiah himself—

[Mysterious truth! A Gentile, belonging to an accursed nation, and to a place peculiarly obnoxious to the wrath of God: and she too, an harlot of peculiar notoriety; to be chosen of God, not only to become an eminent saint, but an instrument of continuing the line of his elect, and ultimately of bringing into the world his only-begotten Son! What shall we say to this? The truth of it cannot be doubted; for she is expressly mentioned in the genealogy of Christg. How infinitely did this honour surpass all that she could ever have imagined! What a reward was here for protecting the spies! But verily we never can entertain too exalted thoughts of God’s love and mercy: the riches of his grace are altogether unsearchable, and the extent of his love, incomprehensible.

This however we may learn from it, that God will abundantly recompense whatever we do for him ———“ Even a cup of cold water given for his sake, shall in no wise lose its reward.” Let us then enlarge our expectations from him, and open our mouths wide, that he may fill them. Let us not be afraid to incur risks for him; but let us serve him at all events, accounting nothing of any value in comparison of his favour, nothing desirable but an inheritance with his people — — —]

CCXLV

THE PASSAGE OF JORDAN COMMEMORATED

  Josh. 4:20–24.

Those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal. And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over: that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever.

TO remember God’s mercies to us, and to transmit the remembrance of them to future generations, is a solemn duty imposed upon us, especially where the mercies are of such a nature as to involve the welfare of our posterity as well as our own. On different occasions God appointed memorials for that express purpose; and ordered, that the children in all succeeding generations should make inquiries respecting them, and receive an answer from one duly qualified to give the desired instruction. This was the case with respect to the passover, which was instituted in order to perpetuate the remembrance of the deliverance of Israel from the sword of the destroying angel, when all the first-born of Egypt were slain. The passage of the Israelites through Jordan was also to be borne in everlasting remembrance. For this end twelve stones were erected in Gilgal; and an order was given, that when children, even to the remotest ages, should inquire what event these stones referred to, they should be informed of all the circumstances which took place when their forefathers first entered into the promised land. We propose to notice two things;

  I.      The mercy commemorated—

[Here we shall content ourselves with briefly relating the circumstances which preceded and accompanied the passage of the Israelites over the river Jordan. That they are deserving of our attention is evident from the injunction given by the prophet many hundred years afterwards; “O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteousness of the Lord.” Shittim was the place from whence they last proceeded (perhaps about seven miles) to the banks of Jordan. There all the people were ordered to sanctify themselves, in order that on the morrow they might be in a fit state to behold the wonders which the Lord was about to do for themd.

The time being arrived, the ark, which was wont to be carried in the midst of them, was borne before them, and they were to follow it at a respectful distance (about three quarters of a mile), that they might all be able to behold it, and that they might see, that, instead of their protecting it, they owed all their protection to it. And the respectful distance which they were to keep, gives us a most important hint in reference to the mode in which we should on all occasions follow divine providence: precipitancy must be avoided, as well as delay.

As soon as the priests who carried the ark touched the brim of the waters with their feet, (for at that season, the snows of Lebanon having begun to melt, the river, as was usual, had overflowed its banks,) the waters were arrested in their course, and formed a wall on their right hand; whilst those which had passed them ran down towards the Dead Sea, and left the channel dry for the space of several miles. The priests then proceeded with the ark into the midst of the channel, and abode there whilst the whole nation of Israel, with their cattle and baggage, passed over: nor did they leave their position, till they were expressly ordered to do so by God himself: and then, as soon as ever their feet touched the opposite bank, the waters resumed their course, and flowed in their accustomed channel. What a proof was here, that the passage was opened not by any natural means, but by the immediate agency of God himself! The people “hasted over,” for, where so much was to be done in one day, there was no time to be lost; but we do not apprehend that their haste proceeded from any unbelieving fear of the impending flood; it rather indicated a fearless confidence in the divine protection, and an assurance that the enemies whom they were invading should not be permitted to prevail against them.]

Such was the mercy vouchsafed unto them. Let us now proceed more particularly to notice,

  II.      The means used to perpetuate the remembrance of it—

For this end two monuments were erected; one, of twelve stones, in Jordan, on the very spot where the priests who bore the ark had stood, which was probably visible at low water; and the other in Gilgal, where they immediately afterwards encamped.

In our text two reasons are assigned for the erection of them; they were to serve, both to Israel and to the world at large,

  1.      As evidences of God’s power—

[What could not God effect, who by a simple act of volition wrought such a miracle as this? The miracle could not be denied, because the stones which commemorated it were taken out of the midst of the river by persons selected for the purpose out of all the tribes. Who then, we may ask,

Who can ever oppose him with success?

It should seem that the Canaanites, if they had acted according to the rules of war, should have opposed the Israelites in their passage: but the destruction of Pharaoh at the Red Sea had spread such a panic through the land, that they did not dare to avail themselves of any supposed advantage, lest they should perish after his example. The event indeed shews how vain any attempt on their part would hare been. And does not this convince us, that, when the measure of any person’s iniquities is full, he shall in no wise escape the vengeance of his God? Whatever obstacles may appear to lie in the way, and whatever barrier an ungodly world may have, or think they have, for their defence, God will surely make a way for his indignation: opposing myriads shall be only as the stubble before the consuming fire: “though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished.” Let any one, dreaming of security, go and behold the stones in Gilgal: let him ask of Jordan, “What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? and thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?” and then let him add with the Psalmist, “Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob.” We may further ask,

Who can ever fail, that trusteth in him?

There might have been some hope of crossing the ford, as the spies had done, if the river had not overflowed its banks: but now it seemed to present an insurmountable obstacle to their passage, especially considering that their cattle and baggage were to be taken over with them. But this generation were not like those who had perished in the wilderness; they had learned to confide in God: and God interposed for them in a way which they do not appear to have at all expected. It had been promised indeed that they should pass over Jordan, and that no opposition should be made to them in their passage; for that their enemies, “through fear and dread, should be still as a stone” till all the people should have completely passed: but they do not seem to have had any precise idea of the way in which the promises should be accomplished: nor, on the other hand, do they appear to have entertained any doubts but that they should be brought over in safety. Their confidence was well rewarded; and the very impediments which obstructed their progress served only to display and magnify the power of God.

Thus, whatever difficulties his people may have to surmount, they may at all times adopt the triumphant language of the prophet, “Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain:” and they may assuredly expect, that He who has “laid the foundation, will finish it, and will bring forth the head-stone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace, unto it!”]

But these monuments were intended also,

  2.      As memorials of his love—

[The conduct of Israel in the wilderness abundantly shewed, that God had “never set his love upon them for their righteousness,” but solely from his own free and sovereign grace. When therefore they looked upon these stones, they could not but see how greatly he was to be loved, and honoured, and feared, and served, for all the mercy, the undeserved mercy, which he had shewn unto them. They would be ever ready to exclaim, “Who is like unto thee, O God, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?”

In like manner we may see in these stones how effectually God will interpose in our behalf, if only we fear and honour him as our God.]

We see what we may expect from him,

In the time of trouble—

[We are brought perhaps by God’s providence into great tribulation, so that “all his storms and billows go over us.” But we need not therefore suppose that he has forsaken and forgotten us: for his word to us is, “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel thy Saviour.” The greater our trials are, the richer will be the manifestations of his love and mercy: his consolations will abound, not only according to, but far above, all our afflictions. This is the very improvement which the Prophet Habakkuk made of the history before us. He expatiates upon the event, as if he had himself been an eye-witness of it: “I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction; and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble. Was the Lord displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses, and thy chariots of salvation? The mountains saw thee, and they trembled; the overflowing of the water passed by; the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high. Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed. Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters.” Then he adds, “Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”]

We see also what we may expect from him,

In the hour of death—

[The passage of the Israelites through Jordan is not improperly considered as an emblem of the Christian’s transition from the dreary wilderness of this world to the Canaan that is above. And when the time is arrived for passing by that unknown, untrodden path, we are apt to fear lest we should sink in the deep waters, and never attain the wished-for end. But God has promised to be with us, to “make the depths of the sea a war for the ransomed to pass over,” and to bring us in safety to the land that floweth with milk and honey. “When therefore we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we need to fear no evil:” yea rather we may rest assured that “God will perfect that which concerneth us,” and “preserve us safely unto his heavenly kingdom.”]

  IMPROVEMENT—

  1.      Let us mark, and bear in remembrance, God’s mercies towards us—

[There is not any one who, if he had marked the dispensations of God towards himself, might not find many occasions for erecting monuments to his praise: nor is there any thing which will be more conducive to our comfort; since every past mercy may be considered as a pledge of future blessings. The Psalmist’s mode of arguing may safely be adopted by every child of God: “Thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before the Lord in the light of the living?” Set up then within your own bosoms an Eben-ezer, whenever God vouchsafes to favour you with any peculiar deliverancesn: then will you have within yourselves a never-failing source of comfort, and an irresistible incentive to “fear the Lord.”]

  2.      Let us endeavour to transmit the knowledge of his goodness to the latest generations—

[We should encourage young people to seek instruction, and should be glad of every thing may afford us an occasion of making known to them the wonders of redeeming love. The whole scene of God’s dispensations towards Israel, from their first deliverance out of Egypt to their final possession of the promised land, was figurative of our redemption by Christ Jesus: and it is worthy of observation, that this was strongly marked at the commencement and conclusion of their journey. The night before they set out from Egypt, they feasted on the paschal lamb: and they entered into Canaan, forty years afterwards, four days before the Passover, that is, precisely on the day when the law required them to set apart the paschal lamb for the approaching festival. Thus was it intimated to them that our redemption from first to last is the fruit of Christ’s sacrifice: on that must we feed in order to obtain deliverance; and even in heaven itself must we ascribe the glory of our salvation “to Him who loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.” Let us then labour to diffuse this saving knowledge, as opportunity shall offer, that our fellow-creatures may reap the benefits designed for them, and God may have the glory due unto his name.]

CCXLVI

ISRAEL’S FIRST PROCEEDINGS IN CANAAN

  Josh. 5:8–10.

It came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole. And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day. And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.

THERE are, in the Scripture history, many important incidents which we overlook, as not supposing them to be capable of any spiritual improvement. To those, indeed, which are directly typical, we pay attention, because they are illustrative of the Gospel: but if they command not our respect in that view, we rarely consider what great practical lessons may be derived from them for the regulation of our conduct. But if, in reading the Sacred Oracles, we were frequently to ask ourselves this question, What is the state of mind which is manifested in this or that action? we should gain an insight into many truths which now utterly escape us; and derive to our souls far greater benefit than we can readily imagine. Take, for instance, the conduct of Joshua on his entrance into Canaan. Doubtless it was novel and curious, and such as we should not have expected: but we little think what exceedingly rich instruction it is calculated to convey. To point out this, will be my endeavour at this time. Yet, in pointing it out, I have in view, not merely the elucidation of this particular event, but a general suggestion as to the mode in which the Scripture history may be improved. Let us then consider,

  I.      The conduct of Joshua on his entrance into Canaan—

God had opened for him, and for all Israel, a passage through Jordan, at a time when it overflowed all its banks; just as he had for Moses through the Red Sea, at the time of his departure from Egypt. Now, therefore,

What should we expect to be the conduct of Joshua?

[Certainly, I apprehend, if he acted on principles which were common to all other Generals, when invading an enemy’s country, he would either prosecute his advantage instantly, whilst all his enemies were filled with terror, and crush them before they had any time to concert measures for their defence; or he would fortify his own camp, to prevent surprise, and prepare for carrying on his conquests by such a disposition of his army as his skill in war might suggest.]

But, what is the information given in our text?

[Behold, instead of adopting any military plans whatever, the very day after he had invaded a country in which there were seven nations greater and mightier than his, he appointed every male in the whole nation, that had been born in the wilderness, and consequently that was under forty years of age, to be circumcised. He did not even wait a day, to know what the effect of his invasion should be, or what efforts his enemies were making to repel it; but by one act disabled the greater part of his whole army from even standing in their own defence.

It may seem strange, that Moses, whose own life had been endangered by neglecting to circumcise his son, should suffer the whole nation of Israel, who till the hour of their departure from Egypt had observed the rite of circumcision, utterly to neglect it for forty years. Whence this neglect arose, we are not informed: but I conceive, that if in the first instance it arose from the unsettled state of the people till they came to Mount Horeb, and was permitted by Moses for about three months on that account, it was suffered afterwards by God as a just judgment on account of the worship paid to the golden calf, and because of the murmuring of the people at Kadeshbarnea when they were discouraged by the report of the spies who had searched out the land. On the former occasion, Moses brake the tables of the covenant, to shew that the covenant which God had made with them was dissolved; and on the latter occasion, God sware that not a soul of those who had attained the age of twenty at the time of their departure from Egypt should ever enter into the promised land. Being thus disclaimed by God as his peculiar people, they were suffered to withhold from their descendants, for forty years together, that seal, by which alone they could be admitted into covenant with God.

But, however the neglect originated, so it was, that not one of all the children of Israel was circumcised for the space of forty years; and all of these did Joshua circumcise, the very day after his entrance into Canaan.

Only three days after this, (for they passed over Jordan on the tenth day of the month, and kept the passover on the fourteenth, at even,) did he also enjoin the observance of the passover. The passover had also been neglected, just as circumcision had beenc: and now that also must be revived, together with the attendant feast of unleavened bread. But was this a fit season for such observances? Had not Joshua other matters to occupy his attention? In a time of peace we might well expect that a holy man of God would renew these ordinances: but at the very moment of invading an enemy’s country, and within two or three miles of a fortified and strongly-garrisoned city, was this a measure to be adopted? Human prudence, doubtless, would have deferred it: but piety towards God was regarded by Joshua as superseding every other consideration, and as the best means of securing His favour, through whose blessing alone any human efforts could prove effectual.]

Now, instead of passing over this conduct of Joshua as an event in which we have no interest, it will be well to inquire,

  II.      How far it is proper for our imitation at this day—

Enter into the state of Joshua’s mind at this time; and then say, whether we may not learn, from his conduct, many lessons for ourselves at this day. We may learn,

  1.      That, in whatever circumstances we he, religion should he our first concern—

[If ever there were circumstances under which the offices of religion might be postponed, methinks they were those of Joshua on this occasion, when he had but just set foot on the land where great and powerful nations were prepared to combat for their very existence. And, in fact, it is the general opinion of military and naval commanders, that they have, as it were, a dispensation to neglect the ordinances of religion on account of the urgency and importance of their occupations. The same idea prevails through almost all the orders of society, every one being ready to plead his temporal engagements as an excuse for neglecting the concerns of his soul. The statesman is too much engaged with politics: the merchant with business; the philosopher with his researches; the student with his books; the servant with his duties; and every man with his own separate vocation: each, in his place, urges his occupations as justifying a neglect of his duties towards God. But, if Joshua, under his peculiar circumstances, sought first to serve and honour God, we can have no hesitation in saying, that in comparison of the divine favour there is not an object under heaven worthy of a thought. I mean not by this to say, that we are at liberty to neglect the discharge of any office to which God in his providence has called us. or so to postpone the discharge of it as to endanger our ultimate success: far from it. It is the inward service of the soul, of which I speak; and which needs not to delay any outward act for one moment. It is not the act of Joshua which I propose to your imitation, but the habit of his mind: and that, I say again, is proper to be exercised by every child of man.]

  2.      That, in whatever circumstances we be, we should place the most implicit confidence in God—

[Suppose yourself in the presence of Joshua whilst these religious ceremonies were proceeding: you would naturally ask, Are you not in an enemy’s land? and have you not many conflicts to maintain ere you can get a quiet possession of it? yet you seem as much at your ease as if the whole land were already subdued before you. What reply do you suppose Joshua would make to observations like these. True, he would say, you behold me in a state of as much quietness and confidence as if I had not an enemy to contend with. But whose battles am I fighting? In whose service am I engaged? Is there any device or power that can succeed against God? In him I trust: and he it is that “keeps my mind in perfect peace.” Now, though in respect of temporal trials we cannot be sure that we are called to them in the way that Joshua was, in our spiritual warfare we stand, as it were, on the same ground as he: we are called to it, as he was; and it is the way appointed for our getting possession of our destined inheritance. We also have our enemies at hand, enemies with whom, in our own strength, it would be impossible for us to cope. But “our God is for us;” and therefore, we ask with confidence, “Who can be against us?” Though in ourselves we are weak, we may be “strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” Though we have a warfare to maintain against all the powers of darkness, we should never regard it as of doubtful issue: we should assure ourselves, that in all our conflicts we shall be victorious, and that “Satan himself shall be bruised under our feet shortly.” Already may we look upon the land as ours, and see the crowns and kingdoms there reserved for us. There, in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, we should consider ourselves as already enthroned; and look forward with joy to the dissolution of our earthly tabernacle, in order to its erection in that good land where it shall be the habitation of God for ever and everg.]

  3.      That, in whatever circumstances we be, we should be determined, through grace, to “roll away the reproach” of our unconverted state—

[The reproach of the Israelites in Egypt was, that they were in bondage both to men and devils: for, whilst they were involuntarily engaged in the service of their Egyptian task-masters, they voluntarily worshipped the gods of Egypt. But behold them now consecrated to God by circumcision, and their reproach was completely rolled away. And is not the unconverted man also both a bond-slave and an idolater? Yes, whatever be the exterior of his deportment, he serves the world, the flesh, and “the devil, by whom he is led captive at his will:” and, whether more or less correct in his outward conduct, he “worships and serves the creature more than the Creator, who is God blessed for evermore.” Now then, I say, if you are consecrated to the Lord in baptism, your duty is to rise superior to all your lusts, and to give yourselves entirely to the service of your God. You must also, in remembrance of your adorable Redeemer, be feeding continually on his body and blood, by means of which you are to be strengthened for all your conflicts, and to be “made more than conquerors” over all your enemies. “Christ our Passover being sacrificed for us,” your whole life must be one continual feast, which you are to “keep, not with the old leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” It is the reproach of man that ever he was the servant of sin in any degree: and this reproach we are to be rolling away; and, as the redeemed of the Lord, we are to be “glorifying God with our body and our spirit, which are his.” To this employment I call you all. I ask you not what your engagements are in life, or what else you have to do: this I am well assured of, that there is not a person under heaven that is not called to this duty; nor is there a circumstance that can be imagined, wherein this duty can be dispensed with. Be ye, then, upright in serving God; and never fear but that God will be faithful in saving you.]

CCXLVII

CHRIST THE CAPTAIN OF THE LORD’S HOST

  Josh. 5:13, 14.

It came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as Captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant?

MOST seasonable are the mercies which God vouchsafes to his people. His interpositions for them at the Red Sea and the wilderness, and at their entrance into Canaan through the river Jordan, are ample illustrations of this truth, as is also the peculiar fact recorded in my text. Joshua was now surveying Jericho, which was the first fortress that was to he attacked by him. That he had no fears about success, was evident; because, from his first entrance into the land to that hour, he had acted rather like a person at peace with all men, than as one in the midst of enemies whom he was commissioned to destroy. Still, the visible manifestation of Jehovah’s presence with him could not but greatly strengthen his faith, and increase his assurance that every enemy, however powerful, should fall before him.

The points for our consideration are,

  I.      The character which our blessed Lord assumed on this occasion—

The person who now appeared to him as “a man,” was no other than the Son of God himself—

[Many were the occasions on which, at that period of the world, the Son of God assumed either an angelic or human shape, for the purpose of encouraging his believing people. To Abraham, and Jacobb, and afterwards to Manoah, were manifestations given similar to that which was here vouchsafed to Joshua. That the person who here appeared to Joshua was more than either man or angel, is clear, I think, from the worship which Joshua, on discovering who he was, paid to him: “Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship.” Now, I grant that Joshua might have made a mistake; but if he had, it would have been corrected by the person, who, if he had not been God, would not have suffered these divine honours to be paid him, But, so far were these honours from being declined, that the bestowment of them was sanctioned by an express command, similar to what had been before given to Moses. Jehovah, when he appeared to Moses in the burning bush, commanded him to “put his shoes from off his feet, seeing that the place whereon he stood was holy,” being sanctified by the divine presence. But indeed, in the beginning of the next chapter, the very person who thus addressed Joshua is called Jehovah: “And the LORD (Jehovah) said unto Joshuaf.” I think, then, that we are in no danger of mistake, when we say that the person who here appeared to Joshua as “a man,” was no other than the Son of God himself, the Second Person in the ever-blessed Trinity.]

He, in answer to the question put to him by Joshua, declared himself to be “the Captain of the Lord’s host”—

[This, in its primary import, signified that all Israel were under his special protection; and that under his command they might be assured of victory. But the same is true of God’s spiritual Israel, in all ages of the world. They are one great army collected under him, and fighting the Lord’s battles, in order to a full and undisturbed possession of the promised land. Of these the Lord Jesus Christ is the Head and Chief. He has received a commission from his Father to be “the Leader and Commander of his people:” and whatsoever a general is, or can be, to his army, that is he to all who fight under his banners. Instruction in the use of arms—provision for their whole campaign—encouragement to meet their foes—succour in every difficulty—protection from every danger—and all the rewards of victory, are assured to every one of them, in due season — — —]

Seeing, then, that we have such a Captain, let us contemplate,

  II.      Our duty towards him under that character—

Doubtless our first duty is to enlist under his banners: for we are not his soldiers by nature: yea rather, we are his enemies, and fight against him in every possible way. But He is held up “as an Ensign to the people; and to him must all people seek.” And, as a man entering into the army of an earthly monarch surrenders up himself altogether to the disposal of the general who is placed over him, so must we voluntarily devote ourselves to the service of Christ, before we can be numbered amongst his host over whom he presides. But, supposing this to have been done, then we say that,

  1.      We must execute his commands—

[Observe the question which Joshua put to him, the very instant he knew the Lord under this character: “What saith my Lord unto his servant?” A similar question was put by the Apostle Paul, the very instant that the Lord Jesus Christ revealed himself to him: “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” In truth, there is not a soldier in any army who does not look for orders from his commanding-officer from day to day, or who does not feel himself bound to carry them into execution. Now the reading of the Scriptures with diligence will, for the most part, supply the needful information: yet are there many particular occasions whereon we must be peculiarly attentive also to the voice of his providence; and in those instances must we seek, by prayer and supplication, his special guidance, which he has promised to us in answer to our prayers. For instance: in the attack which was to be made on Jericho, nothing was left to the direction of Joshua, but every the most minute particular was given in command from this great Captain. And we also, if we will look unto Him, may expect all needful directions: to which, of course, we must adhere with all fidelity, in order to approve ourselves good soldiers of Jesus Christ.]

  2.      We must go forth in an entire dependence upon him—

[Soldiers of necessity confide in their commander; and in proportion as is their estimate of his talents, will be, for the most part, their expectation of success. Amongst men, however, this confidence is mutual: for the best general in the universe can effect nothing, if he hare not good soldiers to carry his orders into effect. But, in the Christian camp, the confidence must be altogether in the Captain; without whom the most gallant army in the universe must fail. We must be strong indeed, and of good courage: but we must “not lean to our own understanding,” or “trust in an arm of flesh.” In fact, we are really strong only in proportion as we feel ourselves weak, and look to Christ to “perfect his strength in our weakness.” We must therefore be strong, not in ourselves, but “in the Lord, and in the power of his mightm.”]

  3.      To disregard difficulties, and even death itself, in his service—

[A soldier necessarily expects to encounter difficulties, and to expose his life to hazard in the service of his king and country. And the greater the difficulties which he has to sustain, the more he rises to the occasion; insomuch that, if a service of peculiar danger is proposed, a whole army will vie with each other in their readiness to undertake it. Now, if this be the case with those who have enlisted under the banners of an earthly monarch, shall it not much more obtain amongst the armies of the living God? St. Paul “gloried in distresses and necessities for the Lord’s sake:” and the same spirit should animate us also. Indeed, at our very first admission into the service of our Lord we were forewarned, that “he who loved his life, should lose it; and that he only who was willing to lose his life for Christ’s sake, should save it unto life eternal.” We must “be faithful unto death, if ever we would attain a crown of life.”]

  ADDRESS—

[Inquire now, I pray you, whether this Saviour he to you a friend or an adversary? He is here in the midst of us, “and with his sword drawn,” though we see him not. And to every one of us is he either a friend or a foe. There is no neutrality, either on his part or on ours. Our Lord himself has told us, “that he who is not with him, is against him; and he who gathereth not with him, scattereth abroad.” Would you, then, ascertain whether he be a “Captain” unto you? Examine your own hearts; and ask, Whether you have ever enlisted under his banners by a voluntary surrender of yourselves to him; and then, Whether you are habitually regarding his will as your rule, and his arm as your stay, and his glory as the one object of your life? These are points easy to be ascertained: and on them your eternal happiness depends. If these things be true, then will he be a “Captain of salvation” unto you: but if this be not the experience of your souls, then you have nothing to expect, but that he will say concerning you, “Bring hither those that were mine enemies, who would not that I should reign over them, and slay them before me.” Oppose him, and you have nothing to hope; submit to him, and you have nothing to fear, to all eternity.]

CCXLVIII

THE TAKING OF JERICHO

  Josh. 6:20, 21.

So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pats, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.

THE promises of God, though often delayed beyond the time that our impatient spirits would fix for their accomplishment, are always fulfilled in their season. The period at which God promised to Abraham that he would bring forth his posterity out of Egypt, was at the end of four hundred and thirty years. During the latter part of that time the afflictions of the people increased beyond measure; yet was their deliverance neither accelerated nor delayed: but at the precise period that God had fixed in his eternal counsels, and had revealed to Abraham, even on “the self-same day,” they were brought forth from their bondage. They would doubtless have been brought also into the full possession of the promised land if they had not provoked God to transfer to their children the mercies which they had treated with contempt. The space of forty years was allotted for that generation to wander, and to die, in the wilderness. During that time a new generation arose; and to them God fulfilled his word: he led them in a miraculous manner into Canaan, as we have seen: and now began to subdue their enemies before them. The first place which they were to conquer, was Jericho, a city of great strength; the taking of which is the subject for our present consideration.

We shall notice three things;

  I.      The preparations for the siege—

One would naturally suppose that they would instantly avail themselves of the terror which their miraculous passage through Jordan had inspired; and that, after fortifying their own camp, they would proceed to construct works for the capture of the city. But behold! instead of engaging in any such labours, they address themselves to works of a very different nature, suited only to a season of profound peace.

  1.      They renew the ordinance of circumcision—

[This ordinance had been entirely neglected in the wilderness; so that, with the exception of those who had not attained the age of twenty at their departure from Egypt, all were uncircumcised. Their first object therefore, after entering into the promised land, was, to renew their covenant with God by circumcision. But was this a time for such an ordinance, when they would thereby disable themselves for war, or even for repelling an assault in case their enemies should attack them? Was it wise, or was it right, to act thus at so critical a juncture? Was it not a tempting of God, rather than a service that could be pleasing in his sight? No: it was commanded by Jehovah himself; and was therefore commanded, because God would make them to know that HE was their defence; and, that to mortify sin and surrender up themselves to him, was the surest road to victory. It was not by human policy or strength that they were to prevail, but by his care and his power: and whatever was most suited to obtain his favour, was most calculated to ensure success.]

  2.      They keep the feast of passover—

[This ordinance also had been neglected in the wilderness: and, in renewing it, they brought to their remembrance God’s gracious interpositions for them at their departure from Egypt, and expressed their conviction, that their whole security depended on the blood of that great Sacrifice which should in due time be offered. How strange does such an occupation appear, when the delay occasioned by it might give time for the arrival of succours to the besieged city! But, to those who know what interest God takes in the welfare of his people, this time would appear to be spent to the greatest possible advantage. And, though we, who are not to expect miraculous interpositions, should not be justified in following literally the example of Israel on this occasion, yet would it be well if we were more conformed to it in spirit: for assuredly, whatever difficulties or dangers we are in, it is our wisdom first to betake ourselves unto prayer, and, by renewed exercises of faith on the Lord Jesus, to secure the favour and protection of our God.]

The wisdom of the preparations appears, in that they secured,

  II.      The fall of the city—

The manner in which it was taken was indeed surprising—

[The armed men were appointed to go round the city in perfect silence, once every day for six successive days; and, on the seventh day, they were to compass it seven times. In the midst of this procession the ark was to be carried by the priests, and to be preceded by seven priests with “trumpets of rams’ horns,” (or rather with the trumpets of jubilee,) which they were to sound during the whole procession. On the seventh day, at the seventh time of compassing the city, the army, on a signal given, were to shout: and behold, no sooner did they shout, than the walls on every side fell down flat, opening a ready way of access for the hosts of Israel, and causing the disconcerted men of Jericho to fall an easy prey to their invaders.]

It is also replete with instruction—

[We are not warranted perhaps to speak of this event as typical: nevertheless it was doubtless intended to convey most important instruction to all succeeding ages; and to shew to them, how easily God can make a way for the accomplishment of his own purposes, and for the salvation of his own people. If it did not typify, it certainly well illustrates, the victories which the Gospel was to obtain over all the principalities and powers of earth and hell. No human force was used: nothing but the sound of the gospel trumpet prevailed for the subversion of Satan’s kingdom. Though preached by men of no education, it proved effectual for the destruction of idolatry, and the establishment of the Redeemer’s power, throughout the earth. In like manner at this time it prevails over the lusts and prejudices of mankind: the publication of it is committed to weak and sinful men, who go forth in Jehovah’s name to subdue the world to the obedience of faith: and though “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal,” nor such as appear likely to be wielded with success, yet are they “mighty through God to the pulling down of strong-holds,” and to the “bringing” of, not only the actions, but even “the thoughts, of men, into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” As for the weakness of the instruments, God has selected such on purpose, “that the excellency of the power may appear to be of himg.” His voice to us is the same in all his wonders both of providence and grace; “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.”]

The next thing which calls for our attention is,

  III.      The destruction of the inhabitants—

[With the exception of Rahab and her family, for whose preservation the word of the spies was pledged, every human being, old and young, male and female, was destroyed. Even the beasts also of every kind were destroyed, and the whole city was burnt with fire. Nothing was preserved but the silver and gold, and brass and iron, which were to be put into the treasury of the Lord for the use of his sanctuary.

Now in this indiscriminate slaughter we are apt to find occasion of offence, as though we thought ourselves more merciful than God. But were not these people the enemies of Jehovah? and had he not a right to cut them off in any way he pleased? If he had taken them away by an earthquake or a pestilence, or had cut them off, as he did the Egyptian first-born and the Assyrian army, by the hand of an angel, we should have bowed to his sovereignty, and confessed him just: but because he used his own people as the executioners of his vengeance, we are ready to accuse both them and him of inhumanity and injustice. But we are sure that the Judge of all the earth will do right; and that whatever is done by his command is right, whether we can discern the reasons of that command or not. With respect to this particular act, if there was severity in it towards them, there was goodness in it, yea great goodness, towards the world at large: for it has shewn the danger of unbelief and impenitence in such awful colours, that the proudest and most obdurate must tremble. The inhabitants at first were certainly filled with terror and dismay: but probably when they saw for six successive days nothing but an empty parade, they would begin to think themselves secure. At the appointed time however the judgment came; and that in a way that they did not at all expect. And thus will it be towards impenitent transgressors. They may imagine that the delay of God’s judgments warrants them to expect impunity in the ways of sin: but “when they are saying, Peace and safety, sudden destruction will come upon them as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape.”]

  From this part of divine history we may LEARN,

  1.      The excellence of faith—

[What was the principle which enabled the Israelites to manifest such composure in the presence of their enemies, and to forbear the use of all common means either for the preservation of themselves or for the destruction of their enemies? It was faith. And so says an inspired writer; “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.” This is the principle which will carry us through all difficulties, and enable us to triumph over all our adversaries. Under the influence of this, our first care in every situation will be to serve and honour God. In the path of duty, we shall feel no fear about our ultimate success. The means which God has appointed we shall use, and none other. If they appear wholly unsuited to the end, we shall not on that account despond; but shall expect his gracious interposition in his own time and way, assured that He will make the weakest and most contemptible of beings to confound the honourable, and to overcome the mighty. Let us then cultivate this principle, and go forth to our warfare “strong-in the Lord and in the power of his might.”]

  2.      The benefit of enlisting under the banners of Christ—

[Christ revealed himself to Joshua under the appearance of a man, and professed himself “the Captain of the Lord’s host.” It was he who directed Joshua how to conduct the siege, and “gave the city of Jericho into his handm.” And who but He is “the Captain of our salvation?” Who but He can guide us aright in our spiritual warfare, or give us success in it? Truly, if we be made “more than conquerors, it must be through Him that loved us,” and gave himself for us. To him will we direct you in every part of your warfare. Do nothing without first asking counsel of him; attempt nothing, but in his strength: and doubt not but that in all your conflicts you shall have reason to say, “Thanks be unto God who hath always caused us to triumph” hitherto, and will “give us everlasting victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”]

CCXLIX

ISRAEL DISCOMFITED BY THE MEN OF AI

  Josh. 7:8.

O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies!

UNINTERRUPTED prosperity is not to be expected in this changeable and sinful world. Even the most favoured of mankind must have some trials; nor is there any season when they can presume to say, “My mountain standeth strong; I shall not be moved.” If at any time Joshua and Israel might adopt this language, it was immediately after they had entered on the possession of the promised land, and had received an earnest of the complete enjoyment of it by the miraculous destruction of the walls of Jericho. Yet behold, scarcely had they tasted the first-fruits of God’s mercy, before a cup of bitterness was put into their hands; which made them regret that they had ever attempted the conquest of the land.

In an attack upon Ai, a detachment of Israelites had been defeated with the loss of thirty-six men: and this filled them all with such terror and dismay, that the whole nation, not excepting Joshua himself, gave way to despondency. Of this we have an account in the passage before us: to elucidate which, we shall notice,

  I.      The discomfiture of Israel—

Their mode of proceeding to the attack of Ai was far from right—

[Having so easily vanquished a much larger and stronger city, they held Ai in contempt, and concluded of course that God must interpose for them just as he had done in the former case. Hence they say, “Let us send only about two or three thousand thither, and not make all the people to labour thither.” Now in this they were guilty of very great presumption. To confide in God was right; but to expect his aid, whilst they neglected to use their own endeavours, was highly presumptuous. And what excuse had they; what plea? None, except that they did not choose to fatigue themselves with the march. They did not even consult God respecting it; but acted purely from their own conceit. What was this, but to tempt God? And how could they hope to succeed, when acting in such a way?

However favoured any man may have been with divine succour and protection, if he presume upon it, and enter into temptation without necessity, and conceive that because his spiritual enemies appear weak, he shall of necessity overcome them; if he neglect to use the proper means of grace, such as searching the Scriptures and prayer to God, he shall fall: God will leave him to himself, that he may learn by bitter experience his own weakness, and “no more be high-minded, but fear”— — —]

But their discomfiture was owing to another cause—

[God had forbidden that any one should take to himself any of the spoils of Jericho: but one man, (how astonishing was it that only one amongst all the hosts of Israel was found to transgress the command!) tempted by the sight of a costly Babylonish garment and some silver, and a wedge of gold, secreted them for his own use. This sin was imputed to the whole nation, and visited upon them all. God had declared, that, if any such iniquity were committed, the whole camp of Israel, as well as the guilty individual, should be accursedd; and now the curse was inflicted upon all; so that if the whole host of Israel had gone against Ai, they would have been discomfited, even as the small detachment was. To this the failure of the expedition is ascribed by God himself.

And to what are we to ascribe the calamities inflicted on our nation, the reverses experienced, and the losses sustained, in this long-protracted war? Is it not to our sins, which have incensed God against us? We all acknowledge the greatness of our national sins, but forget to notice our own personal iniquities; whereas, if we saw every thing as God sees it, we should probably see, that our own personal guilt has contributed in no small degree to bring down the divine judgments upon us. Because we are mere individuals, we think that our transgressions can have had but little influence in matters of this kind: but did not Saul’s violation of the covenant he had made with the Gibeonites, occasion, many years afterwards, a famine of three years’ continuance? And did not David’s numbering of the people occasion a pestilence, to the destruction of seventy thousand of his subjectsg? But these offenders, it may be said, were kings; whereas we are obscure individuals. And was not Achan an obscure individual? Yet behold, how one single act of sin, an act too which would not have been considered as very heinous amongst ourselves, stopped in a moment the course of Israel’s victories, and turned them into shameful defeat! Let this point be duly considered in reference to ourselves; and let us learn, that abstinence from sin is an act no less of patriotism, than of piety.]

The defeat coming so unexpectedly, we do not wonder at,

  II.      Joshua’s distress—

His conduct on this occasion was by no means unexceptionable—

[The manner in which he complained to God reflected even upon the Deity himself; “O Lord God, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us?” Alas! alas! Is this Joshua, that thus accuses the Most High God of cruelty and treachery? Lord, what is man! What will not the best of men do, if left by thee to the workings of their own corruption! Such had been the language of the murmuring Israelites on many occasions: but we readily confess that Joshua, though he spake their sentiments, was by no means actuated by their rebellious spirit: yet he was wrong in entertaining for a moment such a thought. His distrust of God also was highly unbecoming; “Would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan!” What, dost thou so readily relinquish the possession of Canaan, because of this single check? Thou art afraid that “all the inhabitants of the land, hearing of this defeat, will be emboldened to environ you around, and to cut off the name of Israel from the earth:” but hast thou so soon forgotten all the wonders that God has wrought in order to bring thee into Canaan, and all that he has promised in relation to the ultimate possession of it? “Is God’s hand shortened, that he cannot save, or his ear heavy, that he cannot hear?” “Has he at last forgotten to be gracious, and shut up his loving-kindness in displeasure?” Alas! Joshua, “this is thine infirmity.” But it is an infirmity incident to the best of men under great and unexpected misfortunes. We are but top apt to give way to murmuring and desponding thoughts, both in relation to our temporal and spiritual concerns, when we should be rather encouraging ourselves with the recollection of past mercies, and pleading with God his promises of more effectual aid — — —]

Yet on the whole there was much in it to be admired—

[We cannot but highly applaud the concern he expressed for the loss of so many lives. Common generals would have accounted the loss of thirty-six men as nothing: but “the blood of Israel was precious in the sight” of Joshua. We might have expected that he would have blamed the spies for deceiving him in relation to the strength of the city; and have punished the soldiers for cowardice: but he viewed the hand of God, rather than of man, in this disaster: and this led to (what also we much admire) his humiliation before God on account of it. This was very deep: “he rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the even-tide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads.” He had seen on many occasions now Moses and Aaron had succeeded in averting the divine displeasure from the people; and, in concert with the elders, he now tried the same means: and we may confidently say, that, if all the hosts of Israel had been defeated, this was the sure way to retrieve their affairs. But his tender regard for the honour of God was that which eminently distinguished him on this occasion; “O Lord, what wilt thou do unto thy great name?” This was the plea which Moses had often usedk, and to which God had paid especial regard: and the man that feels it in his soul, and urges it in sincerity and truth, can never be ultimately foiled.

O that such were the disposition and conduct of our whole nation at this time! But alas! we hear of numbers slaughtered, without any emotion. We have fasts appointed; but how few are there who observe them with such humiliation as that before us! It is true, the honour of God’s name, I fear, is but little interested in our success: perhaps it is rather interested in the destruction of such an ungrateful and rebellious people as we are. But in relation to his Church and the advancement of religion amongst us, his honour is concerned; because he has bestowed on us advantages equal, if not superior, to any that are enjoyed elsewhere on the face of the whole earth. Here then we may, and should, plead the honour of his name: he expects us to lay to heart the abounding of iniquity in the midst of us; and takes it ill at our hands that there are so few who “mourn for the afflictions of Joseph,” and “cry for the abominations of Israeln.” Let, however, the example of Joshua and the elders be impressed upon our minds, and serve as a pattern for our future imitation.]

  IMPROVEMENT—

[Let us not confine our attention to public calamities, but turn it to those afflictions which are personal and domestic. In this history we may behold the source and remedy of all the evil that can come upon us.

That God, in some particular case, may afflict his people, as he did Job, for the magnifying of his own power, and the furtherance of their welfare, we acknowledge: but yet we never can err in tracing our afflictions to sin, as their procuring cause: and, if only they be the means of discovering and mortifying our corruptions, we shall have reason to number them amongst the richest mercies we ever received— — —

Let us then inquire of the Lord, “Wherefore he contendeth with us?” Let us set ourselves diligently to search out our iniquities; and let us beg of God to discover them to us, that no one sin may remain unrepented of and unmortified.

If in any thing we have been overcome by our spiritual enemies, let us not reflect upon God, as though he had tempted us to sin; nor, on the other hand, let us distrust him, as though he were either unable or unwilling to deliver us: but let us humble ourselves before him, remembering that he is still full of compassion and mercy; and relying on that gracious invitation, “Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings, and love you freely.”]

CCL

ACHAN’S GUILT AND PUNISHMENT

  Josh. 7:19, 20.

And Joshua said unto Achan, 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. And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done.

THE rise, and progress, and termination of sin, afford as interesting a subject, as any that can be presented to our view. It is exhibited to us by St. James in few words, and with remarkable precision: “Man is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed: then, when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” Here we see the whole process: the inward corruption of the heart is first drawn forth by some enticing object; the desire of gratification is then formed, and the determination to attain it fixed. Then comes the act whereby it is attained; and then death, the bitter consequence of sin, inevitably follows. On this passage the history before us is an instructive comment. Achan saw a goodly Babylonish garment, with two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold, and coveted them: then he took them, contrary to the divine command; and then the penalty of his transgression was inflicted on him.

In discoursing on this event, we would call your attention to,

  I.      His guilt—

This act of his had been perpetrated with so much caution, that it was unperceived by any human being. The consequences of it were felt in the divine displeasure; but what evil had been committed, or by whom, no one knew. How then was it detected? How was the offence brought home to Achan? His guilt must be proved, before he can be punished: nay, there must be two witnesses, or testimony equivalent to that of two witnesses, before he can be put to death. Behold then by what means his guilt was ascertained: it was proved,

  1.      From unquestionable testimony—

[Though the matter was altogether hidden from man, it was known to the omniscient, omnipresent God. “The darkness is no darkness to him; but the night and the day are both alike.” God’s eye was upon him, whilst he thought that no eye could see him: and God himself gave the information against him. He declared to Joshua what the true reason was of his displeasure, and of Israel’s defeat. But though he revealed the fact, he did not name the person that had committed it, but left that to be discovered in a way more impressive to the nation, and more merciful to the offender, (inasmuch as it gave him time for repentance and voluntary acknowledgment,) summoning the whole nation, as it were, before him, first, by their tribes, that he might point out to which tribe the offender belonged; then, by their families: then, by their households; and lastly, by their individual persons: and thus by four successive lots he fastened upon Achan as the guilty person. Never was there a more striking comment than this on those words of David, “Evil shall hunt the wicked man to overthrow him.” The offender was out of sight; but his steps were traced with unerring certainty: the first lot shewed, that his scent, if I may so express myself, was found; and, when found, was followed with undeviating steadiness, and irresistible rapidity: till at last the criminal was seized, a lawful prey, a just victim to the divine displeasure.]

  2.      From personal confession—

[The testimony of God would of itself have been sufficient: because he could neither deceive nor be deceived. But, as it was intended that the offender should be made a public monument of divine justice, and be held up as a warning to the whole nation, it was desirable that other proofs of Achan’s guilt should be adduced, sufficient to convince the most scrupulous, and satisfy the most partial. Behold then, Achan himself supplies a testimony which none could controvert or doubt: he bears witness against himself.

Joshua, assured that God had fixed upon the guilty person, entreats the offender to declare openly wherein he had transgressed. And here, we cannot but admire the tenderness of Joshua’s address. He insults not over Achan, nor loads him with reproaches; but, as a compassionate father, beseeches him to acknowledge the truth of God’s testimony, and to “give glory to him by confessing” his crime. This indeed was known to Joshua, and might have been specified by him; but it could not be proved; and therefore he wishes to hear it from Achan’s own mouth; more particularly as a confession of it would honour God in the sight of all; it would glorify his omniscience in discovering, his holiness in hating, and his justice in punishing the iniquity which had been committed.

Achan, convinced that any further attempt to conceal his guilt would be in vain, confessed it, and that too with an ingenuousness and fulness, which would have given us hopes concerning him, if the confession had not been extorted from him by a previous discovery.]

On this testimony, sentence might well have been passed and judgment executed. Nevertheless, that no doubt might remain on any mind, it was further desirable that his guilt should be ascertained also, as it eventually was,

  3.      From corroborating facts—

[It has sometimes been found that persons have unjustly accused themselves: but it was not so in this case: for Achan, in confirmation of his word, told them where they might find the stolen property. A messenger is sent; the property is found; the proofs of his guilt are exhibited before the Lord and in the sight of all Israel. To this testimony nothing was wanting, nothing could be added. The truth of God was manifest, and the equity of his judgments was demonstrated: and nothing now remained but to execute on the offender the punishment he had deserved.]

Proceed we now to notice,

  II.      His punishment—

God had before declared that any person who should take to himself any part of the spoils of Jericho should be accursed: and, after the transgression had been committed, he declared that he would no more be with his people till they should have destroyed the accursed person, and every thing belonging to him, from among them. No option therefore remained to Joshua, but to execute the sentence according to God’s command.

The sentence, though dreadful, was not too severe—

[Achan, with all his children, and his cattle, were stoned to death, and afterwards, with his tent and stolen property and every thing belonging to him, consumed by fire. Now it is true, that God had expressly forbidden that parents or children should be put to death for each other’s iniquities: but God is not restrained by the laws which he gives to man; he may alter or reverse them as he sees good: and in the present instance he was fully justified in the sentence he pronounced. The sin that had been committed, was peculiarly heinous. View it in itself; it was a sacrilegious robbing of God, who had ordered the gold and the silver to be appropriated to his use in the sanctuary. View it in its circumstances; it was committed immediately after a most solemn surrender of himself to God by circumcision and at the paschal feast, and at the very instant that God had magnified his power and lore in causing the walls of Jericho to fall at the sound of rams’ horns and the people’s shout. Had Achan scaled the walls of Jericho and gained the spoils by his own sword at the peril of his life, it would have been some little extenuation of his crime: but God had disarmed his enemies, and made them like sheep for the slaughter: and therefore to rob him of the spoils was the basest ingratitude. In a word, it was direct atheism; for the very idea that he could hide the matter from God was a practical denial of his omnipresence. View it, lastly, in its effects; what evil it had brought upon the whole nation; what a calamitous defeat, accompanied with the loss of six and thirty Israelites; and what inconceivable misery it would have entailed upon the whole nation, if it had not been duly punished, even the entire loss of God’s favour, and the utter destruction of all the people. View the transaction, I say, in this light, and the punishment, awful as it was, will be acknowledged just: he who sought in this manner the destruction of every family in Israel, might well be destroyed together with his own family.

If our proud heart still rise against the sentence, let us silence every objection with this unanswerable question, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”]

The execution of it was calculated to produce the best effects—

[It was necessary that, in the commencement of this new scene of things, the people should know what a God they had to do with; and that, whilst they learned from his mercies how greatly he was to be loved, they might learn also from his judgments how greatly he was to be feared. This lesson they were now effectually taught: they could not but see that “God is greatly to be feared, and to be had in reverence by all them that are round about him.” To impress this lesson more deeply on their minds, an heap of stones was raised over the ashes of this unhappy family; that, as a lasting memorial of God’s indignation against sin, it might declare to all future generations, that “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Now if we consider what incalculable benefit was likely to arise, not only to the people then existing, but to all future generations, from that act of severity, and that the good issuing from it would in many instances be, not merely temporal in relation to their bodies, but spiritual also and eternal in relation to their souls, we shall see that severity to them was kindness to millions; and that therefore the punishment inflicted on them comported no less with the goodness of God than with the sterner rights of justice.]

  That We may gather yet further instruction from the history, let us BEHOLD in it,

  1.      The deceitfulness of sin—

[Achan at first contemplated only the satisfaction he should feel in possessing the Babylonish garment, and the comforts which the gold and silver would procure for him. The ideas of shame and remorse and misery were hid from him; or, if they glanced through his mind, they appeared as visionary, and unworthy of any serious attention. But O! with what different thoughts did he contemplate his gains, when inquisition was made to discover the offender! or, if at first he thought that the chances were so much in his favour, as to preclude all fear of discovery, how would he begin to tremble when he saw that his own tribe was selected as containing the guilty person! How would his terror be increased when he saw his own family pointed out! and what dread would seize hold upon him when the lot fell upon his household! Methinks, when the different members of that household came before the Lord, it might have been seen clearly enough who the guilty person was, by the paleness of his cheeks and the trembling of his limbs. What now becomes of all his expected enjoyments, when once he is detected? With what different eyes does he view the garment and the money when brought forth before the people, from what he did when first he coveted them in the house of their owner! how glad would he now be if he could recall the act, which had thus brought him to shame and ruin! Thus then will it be with all who violate the laws of God. The seducer, the whoremonger, the adulterer, the thief, thinks of nothing at first but the pleasure he shall receive in the gratification of his lusts; and congratulates himself on the attainment of his wishes: but he has no sooner attained his object, than he begins to be filled with apprehensions of a discovery: he is carried on perhaps by the impetuosity of his passions; but he is a stranger to peace. Perhaps he silences his convictions, and follows his sinful ways without much compunction: but it will not be always so: there is a time coming when he will view his gratifications with other eyes; or if he be so blinded by the devil as to make light of sin unto the last, his illusions will vanish the very instant that his soul is departed from the body. For the most part, that is found true which is spoken of hypocrites in the book of Job; “Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue; though he spare it, and forsake it not, but keep it still within his mouth; yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him.” How awfully was this experienced by our first parents! When tempted to eat of the forbidden tree, they thought of nothing but the delicious flavour of the fruit, and the prospect of being made “wise as gods.” But they were soon convinced, by bitter experience, that “to regard lying vanities was to forsake their own mercies.” Some indeed, by continuance in sin, are become “past feeling, having their consciences seared as with an hot iron:” but death and judgment will speedily undeceive them, and the wrath of an almighty God shall teach them, that “sin was indeed exceeding sinful.”]

  2.      The certainty of its exposure—

[It is profitable to observe how often God interposes to discover the hidden iniquities of mankind. Some sins in particular appear to engage him in more decided hostility against the perpetrators of them. I refer more especially to murder and adultery. The interest which the guilty persons feel in concealing their iniquity makes them as cautious as possible to prevent discovery: yet is their very caution oftentimes the cause of their detection. To such sinners we may almost universally address that solemn warning, “Be sure your sin will find you out.” It not unfrequently happens that men are so harassed in their minds, as no longer to be able to conceal their guilt: like Judas, they cast back the wages of their iniquity, and court even death itself, by their own hand, or by the hand of a public executioner, as a relief from the torment of a guilty conscience. But be it so: they hide their wickedness from man: but can they hide it from God? Is there “any darkness or shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves?” No: if they go up to heaven, or down to hell, or flee to the remotest parts of the earth, there does God behold them, and from thence will he bring them to judgment. In that day shall the book of his remembrance be opened, and men shall see the records of their own actions. Then shall the proofs of our guilt be exhibited before the assembled universe, and we shall be unable to utter one syllable in arrest of Judgment. O that we could realize the thoughts of that day! What a day will it be, when the secrets of all hearts shall be exposed to view, and every hidden abomination be brought to fight! Happy, happy they, who in that day shall be found to have an interest in Christ, and in whom his love and mercy shall be for ever magnified! Now since it is certain that our sins will sooner or later find us out, let us consider how we shall view them in that day: and, as we would not now commit a scandalous iniquity in the sight of a fellow-creature, lest he should proclaim our wickedness, so let us bear in mind that there is One, “unto whom all things are naked and opened,” and who has declared that he “will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the heart.” Surely, however skillfully we conceal our abominations now, he will be a swift witness against us in that day to our everlasting confusion.]

  3.      The awfulness of its award—

[Who does not shudder at the thought of that vengeance which was executed on Achan and his family? Who does not see how hot the indignation of God against sin was, when the sin of one single person prevailed more to incense him against the whole nation, than the innocence of the whole nation did to pacify his wrath against the individual, and when nothing but the most signal punishment of the individual could reconcile him to the nation to which he belonged? Yet was all this but a faint shadow of the indignation which he will manifest in a future world. Surely we should profit from such a history as this: we should learn to dread the displeasure of the Almighty, and to glorify him now by an ingenuous confession, that he may not be glorified hereafter in our eternal condemnation.

Hear ye then, Brethren, what the weeping prophet speaks to us in the name of the Lord: “Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud, for the Lord hath spoken. Give glory to the Lord your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness. But, if ye will not hear, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eyes shall weep sore, and run down with tears” for the destruction and misery that shall come upon you. Blessed be God, though Achan’s confession did not avert punishment from him, ours shall from us, provided it be truly ingenuous, and deeply penitential. The Lord Jesus Christ never yet spurned from his feet a weeping penitent. He shed his blood even for the chief of sinners, and “will save to the uttermost all who come unto God by him.” But confession on our part is indispensable: his word to us is, “Return, thou backsliding sinner, saith the Lord, and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever: Only acknowledge thine iniquity.” Let us but do this aright, and we shall soon be enabled to say with the Psalmist, “I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and so thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.”]

CCH

PERSEVERING ZEAL RECOMMENDED

  Josh. 8:26.

Joshua drew not his hand back, wherewith he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

WHATEVER instruments God is pleased to make use of, it is by his hand alone that any thing is wrought: and he will be seen in his works. For this end, he has frequently appointed such means to be used, as had, in reality, not the smallest degree of fitness to the end proposed; and which were of no other use, than to direct the eyes of men to him as the true agent, and to constrain them to acknowledge him in the effects produced. The stretching forth of Moses’ rod neither had, nor could have, any direct influence in producing the plagues of Egypt, or in opening a passage through the depths of the sea: but it marked, in the most signal manner, the power of Almighty God, who had engaged to accomplish his wonders by those means. Thus it was, that God decreed to give to Joshua the victory over Ai, by the stretching forth of his spear. The Israelitish host had been repulsed before Ai: but now they were ordered to attack it again. Means of every kind were to be used, as if the victory were to be gained by human skill and valour. Thirty thousand men were to be placed in ambush: and a feigned retreat was to be made, in order to draw the people of Ai from their strong-holds, and to seize upon their city whilst they were pursuing the retreating hosts of Israel. All this was well, according to the arts of war: and all this was to be rendered subservient to the end proposed. But still it was not by this that success was to be obtained. Joshua must stretch forth his spear: and, though that could be no signal to direct the operations of his army, (for he was alone, and at a distance from the army,) it was the signal by which, if I may so speak, God would act: for at the moment that Joshua, according to the divine appointment, stretched forth his spear, God stirred up the hosts that were in ambush to execute the concerted movement; and thus a speedy and entire victory was gained. But God would still have it seen that the success was owing to him alone: and, therefore, Joshua must still keep his arm and spear extended, till all the people of Ai were completely destroyed.

Now, in this significant act, Joshua was both a type and an example: and in it we see,

  I.      How our Great Captain interests himself for us—

Joshua was a very eminent and distinguished type of Christ—

[To him was committed the office of leading God’s chosen people into Canaan. Moses might conduct them through the wilderness; but he could not bring them into the promised land. He represented the Law, which serves as a rule of conduct, but can give no man a title to heaven. He must give up this honour to Joshua, who was raised up of God for this purpose, to subdue their enemies before them, and to put them into the possession of the promised inheritance. His very name was changed, in reference to his appointment, from Osea to Jehoshua; which is a compound of Jah Osea, and signifies ‘divine saviour.’ His name, thus altered, is the very same with that of Jesus, whose type he was. And no less than twice in the New Testament is his name translated “Jesus,” when it should rather, for distinction sake, hare been translated “Joshua:” and both times in reference to his conducting the children of Israel into Canaan. He was the ostensible leader of the Lord’s people: but the Lord Jesus Christ was the real “Captain of the host:”and before Joshua had fought one battle in the land, the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him in a visible shape as a warrior, and made known to him, that he held but the second place, and that the Messiah himself was, in truth, “the Leader and Commander of the people.” Agreeably to this appointment, the Lord Jesus Christ is called “the Captain of our salvatione,” and is declared to be “exalted of God to be a Prince, and a Saviour, that he may give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.” In fact, it is through him alone that any of “the sons of God are brought to glory.”]

He was a type of Christ in the very act we are considering—

[He was at a distance from the immediate combatants, and in the presence of his God, with whom he was, no doubt, engaged in fervent intercession for the people: and through him was the victory obtained. To the eye of sense, he did nothing; but to the eye of faith, he did every thing. Thus it is that the Lord Jesus Christ is gone into heaven, “there to appear in the presence of God for us.” There is he “our Advocate with the Fatheri,” and never ceases to make intercession in our behalf; and on that very account “he is, and shews himself, able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him.” True it is, that we must fight, as if all depended on ourselves: but still it is through him alone that we can prevail: and whoever he be that is finally made a conqueror, he is made so altogether “through him that loveth him:” “God giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christm.”]

From the same significant action we may see,

  II.      How we are to engage in combat for ourselves—

Behold the attitude of Joshua, his spear stretched out from the very commencement of the battle to the close. Who sees not in this his determined purpose, and his confident expectation of success ? Thus, then, must we fight the Lord’s battles against our spiritual enemies;

  1.      With determined purpose—

[A command is given us to destroy them: and, as in God’s purpose they are all devoted to destruction, so they must be in ours. No truce is to be made with any of them; not one is to be spared. We have enlisted under the banners of our Lord Jesus Christ; and his battles we must fight, till every enemy is subdued before us. Under whatever discouragements we may fight, we must approve ourselves “good soldiers of Jesus Christ;” never retreating through fear, never fainting through weariness, never relaxing our efforts in any respect, nor ever dreaming of rest, till “Satan and all his hosts are bruised under our feet.” The posture of Joshua was no doubt painful to maintain; even as that of Moses had been on a similar occasion, when he held up his rod on the hill in Horebo. His hands were heavy, and he needed the assistance both of Hur and Aaron to hold them up. Through their help, however, he did hold them up till the going down of the sun, and till Amalek was discomfited before Israel. Such resolution must we also possess; and never draw back our hand, till the victory is complete.

The importance of this determination of heart will appear by the effects produced by the want of it in Joash king of Israel. The prophet Elisha being sick, the king of Israel went to visit him. The prophet announced to him God’s gracious intention to destroy the Syrians, his powerful and bitter enemies. The prophet bade him take a bow and arrows; to shoot with an arrow, which should mark the speed with which they should be destroyed; and to strike the arrows on the ground, in token of the extent to which success over them should be obtained. But the king, being but languid in his desires of victory, and not very sanguine in his expectations, smote the ground but thrice; when he should, with determined purpose and joyful confidence, have smitten it five or six times. For this lukewarm conduct he was severely reproved; and his success was limited to the measure of zeal which he had expressed. So shall we find that our success will exactly correspond with the zeal with which we prosecute our endeavours. Let us determine to conquer, and the victory is ours: let our efforts never be relaxed, and they shall infallibly succeed at last.]

  2.      With confident expectation—

[It is clear that Joshua entertained no doubts of final success: he was well assured that the event would be such as God had given him reason to expect. It is true, he could see no connexion between his holding forth a spear in the valley, and the success of combatants at a distance from him: to the judgment of sense it would appear, that he would have been better employed at the head of the army, animating and directing his men. But he knew Who alone could give the victory, and that a compliance with God’s command was the surest means of obtaining help from him. Hence, without any apprehensions about the issue, he maintained his stand before God, and held forth his spear till all his enemies were destroyed. Such is the confidence which we also must maintain, in all our conflicts with sin and Satan. God has promised us success; and “what He has promised, He is able also to perform.” There may appear to us but little connexion between our poor efforts and the destruction of such mighty foes: but we are not to be listening to the suggestions of unbelief; but to “be strong in faith, giving glory to God.” We should even now, by anticipation, see all our enemies subdued before us, and the crown of victory set upon our heads. “If God be for us, who can be against us?” should be our triumphant boast: and we should hurl defiance at our enemies, in the name of the Lord of hosts. Though we be only as David, a stripling, with a sling and stone, going forth against Goliath fully armed for the combat, we should know in whom we have believed, and advance as to certain victory. Trusting assuredly in the promise of our God, “we shall not be ashamed or confounded world without end.”]

  Let me, in CONCLUSION, say to all of you,

  1.      Think not lightly of the spiritual warfare—

[Every one amongst us has a warfare to maintain. Notwithstanding Canaan is the gift of God, it must be obtained by a manly and continued conflict with our spiritual enemies. The world, the flesh, the devil, are all combined against us, as much as ever the seven nations of Canaan were against God’s people of old; and we must go forth against them in the name of our God. We must not despise any as too weak, nor fear any as too strong. Joshua erred in sending only about three thousand men against Ai in the first instance, because the warriors in Ai were but few. His success against Jericho had led him to indulge an undue confidence in the prowess of his men: and he forbore to impose on any greater number what was deemed both by him and them an unnecessary burthen and fatigue. But this unhallowed confidence was punished with defeat: and afterwards he proceeded with his whole force, and with a careful attention to all the stratagems of war. We, too, must follow him in this respect. There is no enemy so weak, but he will be able to overcome us, if we indulge a careless habit, or confide in an arm of flesh. We must fight the good fight of faith, and quit ourselves like men upon the field of battle: but we must, also, be much and often with our God “in the valley:” there must we be holding forth our hands in prayer; nor must we ever draw them back, so long as one single enemy survives. In this respect we cannot do better than follow the steps of David: “Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that stave with me: fight thou against them that fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help: draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.” If you hold forth your spear, and prevail on God to draw forth his, it will be impossible for any enemy to stand before you.]

  2.      Cease not to prosecute it, till your victory is complete—

[As to “run well for a season only” is the sure way to lose the prize; so to fight, however well, for a season only, will ensure nothing but defeat. You are told, that when Moses’ hands hanged down, Amalek prevailed: and it was only by their being held up till the evening, that ultimate success was gained. “Be ye then faithful unto death, in order that ye may obtain the crown of life.” “If any man draw back, it is to certain and inevitable perdition.” Take the great Captain of your salvation for your pattern: he never ceased from his work, till he could say, “It is finished.” Or, if you would have for your pattern a man, “who was of like passions with yourselves, then set Joshua before your eyes; and let his posture in the presence of his God be the continued posture of your souls.]

CCLII

JOSHUA’S LEAGUE WITH GIBEON

  Josh. 9:15.

And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live.

IT is not uncommon for persons to harden themselves against God, and, like Ahaz, “in their distress to trespass yet more against the Lord.” The inhabitants of Canaan had been filled with terror and dismay even before the Israelites had passed over Jordan: yet they prepared to contend with the invading army, and to repel force by force. But when they saw that a passage was opened for Israel through Jordan, and that the walls of Jericho were thrown down by the sound of rams’ horns, and that Ai also was vanquished, it might have been hoped that they would submit themselves to the God of Israel, and endeavour by penitence to avert the impending danger. This however was not the case: on the contrary, the different kings of the country formed a confederacy, to oppose with their united power those whom they despaired of withstanding by their separate exertions. One people indeed ventured to stem the tide: the Gibeonites determined to shun the storm which they could not avert: accordingly they sent some of their chief men to make a league with Joshua.

This league is the subject of our present consideration: and we shall notice it, with a view to,

  I.      Moral instruction—

Two things in particular require our attention;

  1.      The deceit they practised—

[The device which they executed was extremely subtle and ingenious. They knew that God had given to the Israelites a command to extirpate the seven nations of Canaan: and they saw by the manner in which Jericho and Ai had fallen, that there was no hope of resisting them with success. They therefore sent some of their chief men, with instruction to feign themselves ambassadors from a distant nation, and in a very submissive manner to entreat that they might not be extirpated also. Whatever terms Joshua chose to impose, they were ready to accede to, provided they might but return to their country assured on the oath of Israel that they should be permitted to live. That their story might have the appearance of truth, “they took old sacks, old and rent leathern wine-bottles, old shoes, clouted upon their feet, and old garments, and, for their provision, bread that was dry and mouldy,” pretending that every thing was new when they set out from home, but that, by reason of the length of their journey, it had been reduced to the state in which it then was. They professed a great regard for the God of Israel whom they feared, having heard of all the wonders he had wrought for his people in Egypt, and of the victorious manner in which he had enabled them to prevail over the kings on the other side of Jordan. But respecting the miraculous passage through the river Jordan, or the fall of Jericho and Ai, they said not a word; because they would have it supposed that their country was so far distant as not to admit of such recent events being known there.

But this falsehood was altogether unjustifiable. It is true, the very existence of their nation apparently depended on it; and to deceive an enemy may in some cases be allowable: but here was falsehood, direct, palpable, systematic falsehood: and, as is usually the case, having begun with one falsehood, (That they were come from a far country,) they were forced to utter a multitude of others to support it. Nothing could justify this: and, if they had been truly pious, they would have preferred death before it. Their better way would certainly have been, to declare the whole truth, and to implore Joshua’s intercession with God to spare their lives, and to instruct them in the knowledge of his ways. This, we can have no doubt, would have succeeded, though no provision was made for such an event in the general orders which God had given to Israel. The exception of sparing those who opened their gates related to distant nations only, and not to those within the borders of the promised land. Yet God, as a God of mercy, would have spared them: or, if he had not, it would have been better for them to die, than to preserve their lives by falsehood: for the sentence of God against liars, without any respect to the occasion of their lies, is, that “they shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death.”]

  2.      The league that Joshua made with them—

[Joshua, though some suspicion was intimated in the first instance, was too easily imposed upon: (for those who are themselves guileless, are least suspicious of guile in others:) he formed his judgment from the circumstances that were before him, and made up his mind without consulting Gode. This in him was faulty: both he and the elders were guilty of criminal neglect. To what purpose had God given them the Urim and Thummim, but that they might ascertain his will in all doubtful matters ? and Eleazar, the high-priest, was at hand; so that no delay would have been occasioned. To the same source may be traced innumerable errors of our own. We “lean to our own understandings,” instead of seeking direction from God. To what purpose is it said, “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths,” if we do not avail ourselves of this privilege? Let us bear in mind, that there is nothing so great or so small, but it is our duty and our privilege to ask counsel of God respecting it.

But though we blame Joshua for so hastily concluding a covenant with the Gibeonites, we highly applaud him for adhering to his engagement. There might indeed have been much to say for rescinding the covenant: ‘He had been imposed upon: they were not the people whom they had represented themselves to be; nor were their cities out of the precincts of the promised land.’ Still however, “he had sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel;” and therefore he considered the whole nation as pledged to fulfil the covenant; nor would he suffer the congregation to execute upon them the vengeance which they meditated. This was doubtless the proper line of conduct for him to pursue. If he had rescinded his covenant, the whole people of Canaan would have represented him as a violator of his engagements: it was therefore better to fulfil his hasty and unadvised agreement, than by departing from it to give occasion to the enemies of God to blaspheme. From hence we may learn our duty on all such occasions. Joshua had erred through haste, and a neglect of properly consulting God; and therefore it was right to abide the consequences. Had his oath indeed been like Herod’s, duty would have required him to violate it; because an engagement to commit murder could not be binding upon any man: but as there was no such obstacle to the performance of his vows in the present instance, he acted the part of an upright man, who “sweareth to his neighbour, and changeth not.” Nevertheless it was not necessary that he should go beyond his agreement. All that he had promised, was, to spare their livesh: that therefore he adhered to: but as they had deceived him, and as it was necessary to pacify the congregation who were offended at the covenant, he reduced them all to a state of servitude, and made them hewers of wood and drawers of water to the whole congregation in the house of the Lord. This satisfied all parties; and turned even the error which he had committed, into a public benefit.]

Thus have we considered the subject with a view to moral instruction, particularly in reference to the evil of falsehood, and the importance of seeking direction from God, and the indispensable necessity of fulfilling our engagements. We shall now consider it with a view to,

  II.      Religious improvement—

It is thought by most commentators that the league made with Gibeon was typical of the admission of the Gentiles into the Christian Church: but without insisting upon that, we may justly deduce from it the following instructions:

  1.      That we ought without delay to seek the salvation of our souls—

[The Gibeonites did not wait till Joshua had invested their cities, but, whilst he was yet at a distance, sent to desire conditions of peace. They believed that God had given the whole land to Israel, and had ordered them to slay all the inhabitants, and that it was impossible to oppose them with success. They knew also that there was abundant evidence of God’s power to execute all that his wisdom had decreed. Therefore they lost no time in seeking to arrest the hand of vengeance, and to obtain life on any terms. Did they then act thus for the life of their bodies, and shall not we for the life of our souls? Have not we as clear evidence of God’s determination to destroy all the ungodly, as they had of the gift of Canaan to Israel? and are not the judgments inflicted on the rebel angels, on the old world, on the cities of the plain, and on the Jews themselves at this hour, as clear proofs of God’s determination to fulfil his word? I say then, Learn of these heathens: learn to come to JESUS ere it be too late. Stay not till you are besieged by sickness and death; but now, whilst the enemy appears distant, seek a covenant of peace and life. You need not cover your design with falsehoods, but rather declare the whole truth: and come at first, as they did after their imposture was detected; “Behold, we are in thine hand: as it seemeth good and right unto thee to do unto us, do.”]

  2.      That no man shall seek for mercy in vain—

[The Gibeonites, though they obtained mercy by fraud, were spared from a respect for the honour of the God of Israel. Notwithstanding Joshua had been commanded to extirpate all, yet were they spared, when once he had inadvertently passed his word in their favour. And shall not we be spared if we apply to the true Joshua? The Lord Jesus to whom we apply “came into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.” So far therefore is mercy from being contrary to the ends of his mission, it is the very end for which he came, that he might “seek and save that which was lost.” Nay more, he came not only to spare us, but to bring us into covenant with himself, that we might be numbered amongst his own peculiar people. Hear his own word, addressed to every one of us in his name by the Prophet Isaiah; “Incline your ear, and come unto ME: hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.” If you are inclined to doubt whether “he will take the children’s bread, and cast it to such a dog as you;” learn from the Canaanitish woman, that your unworthiness shall be no bar to your admission to his favour: only, like her, believe in Jesus; and, like her, you shall assuredly and acceptance with him. Moreover, if Jesus once admit you into covenant with himself, not all the universe shall ever prevail upon him to violate his engagements with you. If at any time he appear to frown upon you, you may take his covenant, and plead it with him at the throne of grace; “Do not abhor us for thy name sake; do not disgrace the throne of thy glory; remember, break not thy covenant with us.” What astonishing pleas are here! And shall they be used in vain? Had Joshua such respect for the honour of God, that he would not violate his inadvertent covenant, and shall not JESUS fulfil the covenant which he has ratified with his own blood? Surely none ever did, or ever shall, make application to him for mercy in vain.]

  3.      That, if we would obtain mercy, we must submit to the terms imposed upon us—

[The Gibeonites accounted it no great matter to cede their cities, and to spend their days in servitude, seeing that their lives were spared. And shall we think much of sacrificing any temporal interests, or of performing any self-denying duties, when we have reason to hope that God has spared the life of our souls ? What if we be called to give up father and mother, and houses and lands, for Christ’s sake: should we not “account them all as loss for Christ?” What if we be menaced with cruel torments and death for his sake; should we not say, “None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto me, so that I may but fulfil his will, and finish my course with joy?” Had the Gibeonites demurred, they had lost the benefit conferred upon them: and so shall we, if we refuse to comply with the terms assigned us: for “whoso loveth his life, shall lose it.” If we look for mercy at the hands of Jesus, all that we have, and all that we are, must be the Lord’s. Our whole life must be a life of self-denying obedience. Hear this then, ye Gibeonites, who desire a covenant of life and peace: these are the terms, and only these, that can ever be allowed you. But know ye this, that though they may appear hard to flesh and blood, they are not really hard: on the contrary, the service of God is perfect freedom: and it is “better to be a doorkeeper in the house of your God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.” If then ye have been awakened from your heathenish security, whatever terrors may have brought you to the feet of Jesus, bless God for them: and whatever hardships ye may endure in the service of your Lord, bless God for them also. If only ye submit to God, and take part with his people here, you shall have your portion with them to all eternity.]

CCLIII

JOSHUA’S VICTORY OVER THE CONFEDERATE KINGS

  Josh. 10:24, 25.

And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them. And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong, and of good courage: for thus shall the Lord do to all your enemies against whom ye fight.

THE Jewish history, considered merely as an history, is the most wonderful, and most instructive, that ever was recorded: but considered as a shadow of things to come, it has an interest peculiar to itself. The attention which it excites, is not that of speculative curiosity, but of practical concern: and every one who desires to obtain favour with Israel’s God, feels himself bound to study it, in order to learn from it the character of God, together with the duties and privileges of his chosen people.

Having had frequent occasion, in our discourses on the Pentateuch, to shew, that the figurative import of this history is not imaginary, but real; and that such an explanation of it is strongly intimated in the New Testament; we may dispense with any remarks of that kind at present, and proceed to notice, in reference to the Christian’s warfare, the defeat of the five confederate kings by Joshua; a full account of which is given in the chapter before us.

The things which we shall more particularly refer to, are,

  I.      The occasion of the confederacy—

[The Gibeonites, who were a strong and powerful people, had made a league with Joshua, whilst all the other kingdoms of Canaan were determined to oppose him. This incensed all the other powers against them, especially their nearer neighbours, who considered it as betraying the common interest, and as facilitating the threatened subjugation of the whole country. To prevent the influence of such an example, and to punish those whom they regarded as traitors, fire kings united their forces to go and smite Gibeon, before they should be able to obtain any assistance from their new ally. They accordingly went up with all possible expedition to attack the city, and to wreak their vengeance on its inhabitants.

Here then we may see what usually takes place when any of the enemies of Christ submit themselves to him. Their former friends and companions consider it as a defection from their standard, and a dereliction of their cause; and often resent it with no little acrimony: — — — and though their opposition does not in all cases proceed to the same extremity, it never fails to shew itself in a way of contempt and ridicule. Satan too is indignant at losing one of his vassals; and not only stimulates his subjects to commence hostilities against themc, but labours by all possible wiles and devices to reduce them to their former bondage — — — There is the same enmity against the cause of Christ existing now as ever. As “the kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers took counsel together, against the Lord, and against his Anointede,” in the days of old, and the same rage continued against all the Apostles and Disciples in after ages, so must it be, and so it will be, as long as Satan shall be permitted to exert any influence over the minds of meng: earth and hell will combine against the Church of Christ; and every one that enters into covenant with Jesus, shall have a powerful confederacy to contend with.]

From the occasion of that confederacy, we proceed to notice,

  II.      The means by which it was defeated—

[Instantly, and with great importunity, did the Gibeonites make application to Joshua for timely succour. They rightly judged, that, having once made a covenant with them, he would afford them his effectual aid. Nor were they disappointed of their hope: for Joshua, without delay, gave orders to his whole army, and marched all night to their deliverance.

Such is the way in which Christians also must obtain deliverance. If they attempt to resist their enemies in their own strength, they will infallibly be vanquished: but if they betake themselves to prayer, they cannot but succeed. Prayer calls Omnipotence to their aid: and while it is yet offering, God will both heat and answer it. Behold the Apostle Paul, how sorely he was beset, how grievously he was assaulted: yet scarcely had he been able thrice to repeat his cry for help, before the Lord answered him, “My grace is sufficient for thee:” and immediately you behold him triumphing, as if all his enemies were lying prostrate at his feet. Thus the Christian, whatever confederacy be formed against him, has only to cry unto the Lord for help, saying, “I have no might against this great company that cometh against me, neither know I what to do;” and the victory will be no longer doubtfulm: the devil himself could not stand before such a prayer as that, but would instantly be put to flight. Joshua felt that there was danger of his coming too late: but no such danger exists in relation to the Christian; for his Lord is always near, a present, “a very present help in the time of troubleo.”]

Let us next contemplate,

  III.      The extent of that defeat—

[The confederate armies were discomfited in a moment, and the pursuit of them continued so long, that Joshua entreated that the sun and moon might be arrested in their career, in order to afford him light to finish the work he had begun. And because the slaughter of them by the hand of Israel was not sufficient, God himself cast down great hailstones upon them, and slew more than all the host of Israel had slain with the sword. All the five kings also were taken, and, after the captains of Israel had put their feet upon their necks, were slain, and hanged up on trees, as accursed monuments of God’s wrath and indignation. Thus complete was the destruction of Israel’s enemies by Israel’s God.

Thus shall the Christian also be enabled to say with the Apostle, “Thanks be unto God, who always causeth us to triumph in Christ!” When once he has entered into covenant with Christ, “sin shall no more have dominion over him:” “being Christ’s, he shall be enabled to crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts:” yea, God will so give him the victory, that “Satan himself shall be bruised under his feet shortly.” See the victories granted to David in answer to his prayer: these were a counterpart of those recorded in the text, and of those also which every true Christian shall experiences.]

It was not for the purpose of insulting over a vanquished enemy that Joshua ordered his captains to trample on their necks, but in order to shew unto Israel, what sentiments this victory should inspire; and to set before their eyes,

  IV.      The prospect it afforded them in all their future conflicts—

[Many conflicts yet remained for them, before the whole land would be completely subdued. But, however numerous or severe these conflicts might be, the people had no reason “ to fear or be dismayed,” since every enemy should be subdued before them in like manner, and be, as had long since been foretold, mere “bread for them.”

In like manner are we also taught to regard our victories as pledges of future and greater conquests. Whilst we are in this militant state, we shall and many enemies to encounter. Sometimes they may appear so formidable as almost to defy Omnipotence itself: but we need not fear: there are at all times “more with us than with them: “we shall always have Jehovah himself on our side: and “if God be for us, who can be against us?” Our own weakness is no ground of fear; because God “will perfect his own strength in our weakness:” “instead of breaking the bruised reed or quenching the smoking flax, he will bring forth judgment unto victory.” In this light then let us view the menaces and assaults of all our enemies: they shall only be the means of displaying and magnifying the power of our God. Only let us remember that encouraging direction, “Call upon me in the time of trouble, and I will hear thee, and thou shalt glorify me; “and then may we rest assured, that “no weapon which is formed against us shall prosper;” yea, we may defy all the powers of earth and hell ever “to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”]

  APPLICATION—

  1.      To those who put discouragements in the way of repenting sinners—

[Few will acknowledge themselves to be persecutors of the Lord’s people, though there is scarcely a more common character to be found. But know, that mocking is as painful to the mind, as scourging is to the body:” and “it were better to have a millstone hanged about your neck, and to be cast into the sea, than that you should offend one of Christ’s little onesy” — — — If any think, that, because multitudes concur with them, they are the less in danger, I would remind them of Gibeon’s enemies, and say, “Associate yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.”]

  2.      To those who yield to discouragement—

[Think not of your own weakness, but of the power and grace of Christ. And if others cry out by reason of a confederacy, join not with them in their desponding apprehensions, but “sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself, and make him your fear, and him your dread.”]

CCLIV

THE CONQUEST AND PARTITION OF CANAAN

  Josh. 11:23.

So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes.

THE promises of God, though often slow in their accomplishment, are sure to be fulfilled in due season. Abraham waited twenty years for the promised child, till, according to the course of nature, there was no hope that Sarah should ever become a mother; yet Isaac was born to him in due time. God promised to give to him and to his posterity the land of Canaan; yet it was four hundred and thirty years before his posterity were brought out of Egypt; and forty more before they entered into Canaan; and even then it was six more years before they obtained a quiet possession of it. Still however, the promise could not fail, nor did it fail in any particular. The accomplishment of that event is recorded in the words we have just read; which will naturally lead us to contemplate the conquest and partition of the promised land.

  I.      The conquest of the land—

Beautiful is the analogy between the warfare of the Israelites, and that which is maintained by every true Christian. We have had repeated occasion for this remark before; but the illustration of it admits of endless diversity.

Mark their warfare in its various stages—

[Behold its commencement: it began with wonderful interpositions of the divine power in their behalf. The river Jordan opened to them a passage, as on dry land, at a time that it had overflowed all its banks: and the walls of Jericho fell down at the sound of rams’ horns, and the people’s shout: and thus a footing for them was gained in a way that gave all possible encouragement to their future efforts. In its progress they were left more to their own personal exertions. Great combinations were formed against them; and they had sometimes to contend with powers, which seemed likely to overwhelm them: at other seasons they enjoyed comparative rest; yet were they never without some enemies to combat, and some conflicts to maintain. God had told them, that he would “not drive out the Canaanites before them in one year, but by little and little;” that the beasts of the field should not multiply against them, and that their population might so increase as to enable them to occupy the land. Hence, long after the inhabitants of the south were subdued, their northern enemies remained unbroken: and some of their fiercest conflicts were reserved for a period when they had expected nothing but easy and progressive triumphs. their last trials even seemed to be the greatest; for the Anakims, who were of such gigantic stature, and whose strong-holds were so impregnable as to intimidate all the spies that Moses had sent forty years before to search out the land, maintained themselves to the last, and were never conquered till all the other powers had been rooted out. With the exception of Gibeon, there was not so much as one city that sought peace with Joshua; all of them being given over to judicial blindness, that they might suffer the full punishment of their iniquitiesd. At last, however, came the completion of their warfare, when every enemy being subdued, they rested from all their perils and fatigues, and took possession of the whole land. Then they reaped the fruits of all their labours; they occupied all the cities, enjoyed all the spoils, and sat down in peace and safety, none making them afraid.]

And now contemplate the Christian’s warfare—

[In its commencement, the power of God is not less displayed than in the history before us. The transition which a person experiences in conversion, is justly represented in the Scripture as a coming “from darkness into marvellous light;” or rather, as “a passage from death to lifeg.” What human power is sufficient for a change like this? St. Paul represents the power displayed in it as equal to that which was exhibited by Almighty God in raising his Son Jesus Christ from the dead, and in setting him at his own right hand in heaven, above all the principalities and powers, whether of heaven or hell. The remembrance of this is an encouragement to the Christian in all his future conflicts. He knows assuredly who it is that “hath begun the good work within him:” he is constrained to say, “I have laboured, yet not I, but the grace of God that was within me: by the grace of God I am what I am.” In its progress the work is carried forward more apparently by his own exertions. He has the armour given him; but he is called forth to use it. His whole life is to be a state of warfare; and it is by fighting that he is to obtain the victory. He will not find any one enemy that will submit to him, till smitten by the sword of the Spirit, and constrained by the holy violence of faith and prayer. The world, the flesh, and the devil, will combine their forces to destroy him. There will be some seasons of more than ordinary temptation, when he will need peculiar succour from on high: and there will be other seasons of comparative rest: but, if Satan at any time depart from him, it will only be for a season, as he departed from Christ himself. As it is with the Church at large, which has times of persecution and times of peacel, so is it, in a greater or less degree, with all the individuals that compose the Church: and not unfrequently has the Christian his sorest trials, either when he is most expecting peace, or when his last enemy, even death itself, is about to be swallowed up in everlasting victoryn. At last the completion of his warfare will arrive: O blessed season, when every enemy shall be finally subdued! Then the almost invincible Anakims shall be rooted out; and Satan, that great adversary, by whom all the rest are concentrated, and led on to battle, shall be bruised under his feet; and he shall enjoy the fruit of his victories in everlasting rest.]

The same resemblance as we have traced in reference to the conquest of Canaan, may yet further be discovered in,

  II.      The partition of it—

The land, when conquered, was divided to the tribes by lot; God having reserved to himself the whole disposal of it: his it was from the beginning; and his it continued to be; and they must all receive it as a gift from him. Mark here the order of events;

  1.      The grant—

[God gave the land to Abraham, whom of his own sovereign will he had called out from an idolatrous people, and to whom for his own glory’s sake he had revealed his will. To him, I say, God gave the land: not for any merit that was in him, either seen or foreseen, but, “for the manifestation of his own glory.” And whence is it that man is taken, in preference to the fallen angels? or whence are Christians selected from the whole world, which lieth under Pagan darkness or Mahometan delusion? or whence are some “recovered out of the snare of the devil, by whom they have been led captive at his will,” whilst others are left still in bondage to him, wallowing in their lusts, and enemies of all righteousness? Will any man presume to say that he “made himself to differ,” or that God chose him for his own superior goodness, either seen or foreseenp? Let not that man ever speak of pride; for wherein could Lucifer himself exceed such presumption as this? No: we must affirm with the Apostle, that “God hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world; and that, not because we were holy, or because he foresaw we would be holy, but that we might be holy, and without blame before him in love.” He, of his own sovereign will, gave his Son to us, and us to himr; yea, he “predestinated us also unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved.”]

  2.      The acquisition—

[This, though a gift, was yet attained by means of their own exertions. The common objection against the doctrines of predestination and election is, that it encourages men to sit down supinely, expecting God to do every thing, whilst they themselves do nothing. But did Joshua and Caleb argue so; or was there found one single person in the whole kingdom of Israel that argued so? No; they all knew that the gift of Canaan did not supersede the necessity of their exertions, nor did the efforts they used prevent it from being a gift. They knew that it was a gift; and that very consideration encouraged them to fight for it; and they laboured cheerfully, because they “knew that their labour would not be in vain in the Lord.” Thus then it must be with us. “The covenant whereby heaven is made over to us, is ordered in all things and sure:” yet we must “fight the good fight of faith” and “quit ourselves like men,” if ever we would enjoy any one of its blessings. It is “to those who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, that eternal life will be given:” nor is there one single hour on this side eternity when we are at liberty to put off our armour: we must “be faithful unto death, if ever we would obtain the crown of life.” The will of God is made known to us: every assistance is offered for the performance of it: in obeying it we must find our present happiness, and ensure that which is to come. This order of things is absolutely irreversible: “we have need of patience therefore, that, after we have done the will of God, we may receive the promise.”]

  3.      The enjoyment—

[This, though long delayed, they attained at last; and doubtless considered themselves as well repaid for all their labours. But what was their rest in comparison of that which God has reserved for us? Of ours David speaks, when he represents God as swearing that the impenitent and unbelieving shall never enter into it: and in the Epistle to the Hebrews, this declaration of David’s is brought to prove, that there must be some other, and better, rest than ever was enjoyed in this world. The rest which Joshua promised and gave to Israel in the land of Canaan, was only a type and shadow of that which God has prepared for us: “If Joshua had given them rest,” says the Apostle, “David would not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.” Now here the whole parallelism which we have illustrated, is marked by God himself. Their Captain has the very same name with ours, and was a most illustrious type of him: and the rest of Canaan which he gave them after all their conflicts, was a distinguished type of heaven; to the everlasting possession of which we shall be advanced, when, under the direction, and by the aid of Jesus, we have subdued our spiritual enemies. Then all difficulties, temptations, trials, conflicts, will be for ever banished; and rest in the bosom of our God will be our everlasting portion.]

  Let us LEARN then from hence the issue,

  1.      Of the world’s impieties—

[God beareth long with sinners; and because his judgments against their evil works are not executed speedily, their hearts are the more fully, and more securely, set in them to do evil. But “God is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness.” He has fixed a period beyond which his forbearance shall be exercised no longer: and then the most secure shall be visited, and the most powerful brought down. “Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished.” O that the secure and thoughtless would reflect on this, ere it be too late! Hostility to Jesus and his people, whatever men may imagine, can never terminate, but in the destruction of those who indulge it. Beware then, Brethren, of hardening yourselves against God: for “who ever hardened himself against him and prospered?” His hand will surely find out all his enemies; and every refuge of lies shall be swept away with the besom of destruction.]

  2.      Of the saint’s conflicts—

[Victory may in some cases be long held in suspense: and the most courageous veteran may need peculiar comforts from above. But the weakest shall triumph in due time; and be made “more than conquerors through Him that loved them.” We readily grant, that, as the Israelites had to contend with “nations that were greater and mightier than they,” so it is with us: but the issue of our conflicts shall be like theirs also. It is said on different occasions, that “God delivered their enemies into their hands;” and from thence the victory became certain. The same promise has he made to us; and it shall be fulfilled to every one of us in its season. Let not any then give way to unnecessary alarms. Appearances may be awful and alarming: but our consolation is, that “greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world:” and, if at any time we be tempted to say, “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me?” let us instantly reply with the holy Apostle, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”]

CCLV

SLOTH AND LUKEWARMNESS REPROVED

  Josh. 18:3.

And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you?

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