PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Expositor's Bible: The Book of Joshua
Blaikie, William Garden · 126,607 words · 168 reading sections
_The Fate Of Jericho._
A more serious objection in the eyes of many is that which is founded on the promiscuous massacre of the people of Jericho, which, according to the narrative, the Israelites were ordered to make. And it is not wonderful that, with the remarkable sense of the sanctity of human life attained in our country and in our age…
892 wordsSECTION 62_The Fate Of Jericho._
We hear of Jericho from time to time as a place of abode both in the Old Testament and in the New; but when Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt it with walls and gates, "he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which He spa…
250 wordsSECTION 63_Rahab Saved._
JOSHUA vi. 17, 22-25. It has not been the lot of Rahab to share the devout interest which has been lavished on Mary Magdalene. Our Correggios, Titians, and Carlo Dolcis have not attempted to represent the spirit of contrition and devotion transfiguring the face of the Canaanite girl. And this is not surprising. Rahab …
852 wordsSECTION 64_Rahab Saved._
No doubt the scarlet cord was hung from her window, as had been arranged with the spies, and the Israelites, when they saw it, would be reminded of the blood of the lamb sprinkled on their door posts and lintels when the destroying angel passed through Egypt. It was the two men who had acted as spies that Joshua instru…
750 wordsSECTION 65_Rahab Saved._
At a very early period in the history of the Christian Church, the great influence of godly women on the welfare of their male relations began to be seen. About the fourth century we can hardly peruse the biography of any eminent Christian father, without being struck with the share which the prayers and efforts of som…
1,105 wordsSECTION 66_Rahab Saved._
Ten thousand times has this truth been illustrated in evangelistic addresses, in sermons, and in tracts innumerable from the case of the prodigal son. And what imagination can estimate the good which that parable has done? In this point of view it is strange that little use has been made of an Old Testament passage, in…
865 wordsSECTION 67_Achan'S Trespass._
JOSHUA vii. A vessel in full sail scuds merrily over the waves. Everything betokens a successful and delightful voyage. The log has just been taken, marking an extraordinary run. The passengers are in the highest spirits, anticipating an early close of the voyage. Suddenly a shock is felt, and terror is seen on every …
665 wordsSECTION 68_Achan'S Trespass._
Hitherto Joshua had been eminently successful, and his people too. Not a hitch had occurred in all the arrangements. The capture of Jericho had been an unqualified triumph. It seemed as if the people of Ai could hardly fail to be paralysed by its fate. After reconnoitring Ai, Joshua saw that there was no need for muste…
668 wordsSECTION 69_Achan'S Trespass._
Then comes the true explanation--"Israel hath sinned." Might you not have divined that this was the real cause of your trouble? Is not sin directly or indirectly the cause of all trouble? What was it that broke up the joy and peace of Paradise? Sin. What brought the flood of waters over the face of the earth to destroy…
931 wordsSECTION 70_Achan'S Trespass._
But before passing on to the result of the scrutiny, we find ourselves face to face with a difficult question. If, as is here intimated, it was one man that sinned, why should the whole nation have been dealt with as guilty? Why should the historian, in the very first verse of this chapter, summarise the transaction by…
699 wordsSECTION 71_Achan'S Trespass._
Let us think of Achan's temptation. A large amount of valuable property fell into the hands of the Israelites at Jericho. By a rigorous law, all was devoted to the service of God. Now a covetous man like Achan might find many plausible reasons for evading this law. "What I take to myself (he might say) will never be mi…
623 wordsSECTION 72_Achan'S Punishment._
JOSHUA vii. "Be sure your sin will find you out." It has an awful way of leaving its traces behind it, and confronting the sinner with his crime. "Though he hide himself in the top of Carmel, I will search and take him out thence; and though he be hid from My sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the s…
859 wordsSECTION 73_Achan'S Punishment._
The confession certainly was frank and full; but whether it was made in the spirit of true contrition, or whether it was uttered in the hope that it would mitigate the sentence to be inflicted, we cannot tell. It would be a comfort to us to think that Achan was sincerely penitent, and that the miserable doom which befe…
811 wordsSECTION 74_Achan'S Punishment._
It seems a terrible punishment, but Achan had already brought defeat and disgrace on his countrymen, he had robbed God, and brought the whole community to the brink of ruin. It must have been a strong lust that led him to play with such consequences. What sin is there to which covetousness has not impelled men? And, st…
772 wordsSECTION 75_Achan'S Punishment._
But if it be awful to contemplate the death, and the mode of death of Achan, how much more when we think that his wife and his sons and his daughters were stoned to death along with him! Would that not have been a barbarous deed in any case, and was it not much more so if they were wholly innocent of his offence? To mi…
1,128 wordsSECTION 76_The Capture Of Ai._
No man can tell all the "trouble" that has come into the world by reason of sin. As little can we know the full extent of that deliverance that shall take place when sin comes to an end. If we would know anything of this we must go to those passages which picture to us the new heavens and the new earth: "In the midst o…
683 wordsSECTION 77_The Capture Of Ai._
To Christian men especially, failure brings very valuable lessons. There is always something to be learned from it. In our first attempt we were too self-confident. We went too carelessly about the matter, and did not sufficiently realize the need of Divine support. Never was there a servant of God who learned more fro…
793 wordsSECTION 78_The Capture Of Ai._
The _ruse_ was that the ambush should be concealed behind the city; that Ai, as before, should be attacked from the east by the main body of troops; that on receiving the onslaught from the city they should seem to be defeated as before; that Joshua, probably standing on some commanding height, should give a signal to …
887 wordsSECTION 79_The Capture Of Ai._
A question has been raised respecting the legitimacy of the stratagem employed by Joshua in order to capture Ai. Was it right to deceive the people; to pretend to be defeated while in reality he was only executing a _ruse_, and thus draw on the poor men of Ai to a terrible death? Calvin and other commentators make shor…
687 wordsSECTION 80_The Capture Of Ai._
"No war, or battle's sound Was heard the world around; The idle spear and shield were high uphung; The hookèd chariot stood Unstained with hostile blood, The trumpet spake not to the armèd throng; And kings sat still with awful eye As if they surely knew their sovran Lord was by." One lesson comes to us with pr…
663 wordsSECTION 81_Ebal And Gerizim._
"The cloud-capt towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve: And like this unsubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a rack behind." JOSHUA viii. 30-35. Commentators on Joshua have been greatly perplexed by the place which this narrative has in …
812 wordsSECTION 82_Ebal And Gerizim._
It was a most fitting thing that when he had completed the conquest of the country, Joshua should set about performing that great national ceremony, designed to rivet on the people's hearts the claims of God's law and covenant, which had been enjoined by Moses to be performed in the valley of Shechem. For though Joshua…
866 wordsSECTION 83_Ebal And Gerizim._
The ceremony here under Joshua was twofold: first, the rearing of an altar; and second, the proclamation of the law. 1. The altar, as enjoined in Exod. xx. 24, was of whole, undressed stones. In its simple structure it was designed to show that the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands. In its open positio…
930 wordsSECTION 84_Ebal And Gerizim._
Very explicit mention is made of the fact that "there was not a word of all that Moses commanded which Joshua read not before all the congregation of the children of Israel, with the women and the little ones and the strangers that were conversant among them." This obviously implies that the law of Moses was in definit…
391 wordsSECTION 85_The Stratagem Of The Gibeonites._
JOSHUA ix. We now resume the thread of the story interrupted by the narrative of the transaction at Ebal and Gerizim. We learn from the testimony of Rahab of Jericho, as uttered to the spies (chap. ii. 9), that the terror of Israel had caused the hearts of the inhabitants of the country to faint, and that the fame of …
868 wordsSECTION 86_The Stratagem Of The Gibeonites._
It was just the completeness of the disguise that threw Joshua and the men of Israel on their guard. For at first the idea did occur to them that the strangers might be neighbours, and therefore of the nations that they were called on to destroy. On closer inspection, however, that seemed out of the question; indeed, t…
667 wordsSECTION 87_The Stratagem Of The Gibeonites._
"A lying tongue is but for a moment;" and the Gibeonite fraud lived just three days. Then it was discovered by Joshua that the Gibeonites lived in the immediate neighbourhood. But before that, he had made peace with them, and entered into a league to let them live, and the princes of the congregation had confirmed it b…
770 wordsSECTION 88_The Stratagem Of The Gibeonites._
Respecting the after history of Gibeon and the Gibeonites we find some notices in the Old Testament, but none in the New. At one time there was a sanctuary at Gibeon, even after the ark had been removed to Mount Zion; for it was at Gibeon that Solomon offered his great sacrifice of a thousand burnt offerings, and had t…
1,045 wordsSECTION 89_The Stratagem Of The Gibeonites._
All Eastern nations get the character of being deceitful; but indeed the weed may be said to flourish in every soil where it has not been rooted out by living Christianity. But if it be peculiarly characteristic of Eastern nations, is it not remarkable how constantly it is rebuked in the Bible, even though that book sp…
348 wordsSECTION 90_The Battle Of Bethhoron._
JOSHUA x. Out of the larger confederacy of the whole Canaanite chiefs against Joshua and his people recorded in the beginning of chap. ix., a smaller number, headed by Adonizedec, undertook the special task of chastising the Gibeonites, who had not only refused to join the confederacy, but, as it was thought, basely a…
720 wordsSECTION 91_The Battle Of Bethhoron._
Encouraged by the assurance of Divine protection and favoured by the moonlight, Joshua, by a marvellous act of pluck and energy, went up by night, reached Gibeon in the morning, fell upon the army of the assembled kings, possibly while it was yet dark, and utterly discomfited them. It would have been natural for the ro…
764 wordsSECTION 92_The Battle Of Bethhoron._
In some respects this victory has a special significance. In the first place, it had a most important bearing on the success of the whole enterprise; its suddenness, its completeness, its manifold grandeur being admirably fitted to paralyse the enemy in other parts of the country, and open the whole region to Joshua. B…
815 wordsSECTION 93_The Battle Of Bethhoron._
A far more serious question has been raised as to whether this miracle ever occurred, or could have occurred. To those who believe in the possibility of miracles, it can be no conclusive argument that it could not have occurred without producing injurious consequences the end of which can hardly be conceived. For if th…
712 wordsSECTION 94_The Battle Of Bethhoron._
But whatever allowance we may make for poetical licence of speech, it is hardly possible not to perceive that the words as they stand imply a miracle of extraordinary sublimity; nor do we see any sufficient ground for resisting the common belief that in whatsoever way it was effected, there was a supernatural extension…
660 wordsSECTION 95_The Battle Of Bethhoron._
And in reference to the outside world, want of thoroughness in warfare is still our besetting sin. We play at missions; we trifle with the awful drunkenness and sensuality around us; we look on, and we see rural districts gradually depopulated; and we wring our hands at the mass of poverty, vice, and misery in our grea…
323 wordsSECTION 96_The Battle Of Merom._
JOSHUA xi., xii. There is some appearance of confusion in the terms in which the great confederacy of native princes against Israel is brought in. In the beginning of the ninth chapter, a combination that embraced the whole country, north and south, east and west, is described as gathered together to fight with Joshua…
659 wordsSECTION 97_The Battle Of Merom._
The situation of Hazor has been disputed by geographers, and Robinson, who is usually so accurate, differs from other authorities. He assigns it to a ruinous city on a hill called Tell Khuraibeh, overhanging the Lake Merom, for little other reason than that it seems to answer the conditions of the various narratives wh…
659 wordsSECTION 98_The Battle Of Merom._
It was a very serious undertaking for Joshua, and before attempting it he stood much in need of the encouragement of Jehovah--"Be not afraid because of them: for to-morrow about this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel: thou shalt hough their horses, and burn all their chariots with fire." Not on the nu…
958 wordsSECTION 99_The Battle Of Merom._
The conquest of Western Palestine was thus virtually completed. First, by taking Jericho, Joshua had possessed himself of the Jordan valley, and established a clear communication with Bashan and Gilead, which the two and a half tribes had received for their inheritance. By the conquest of Ai and Bethel, he had made a w…
832 wordsSECTION 100_The Battle Of Merom._
That some of the Canaanites did leave the country seems very probable, although little importance is to be attached to the statement of Procopius that after trying Egypt they settled in Libya, and overspread Africa as far as the Pillars of Hercules. At a fortress in Numidia called Tigisis or Tingis he says that so late…
677 wordsSECTION 101_Joshua'S Old Age--Division For The Eastern Tribes._
JOSHUA xiii., xiv. 1-5. "The Lord said unto Joshua, Thou art old and stricken in years." To many men and women this would not be a welcome announcement. They do not like to think that they are old. They do not like to think that the bright, joyous, playful part of life is over, and that they are arrived at the sombre …
937 wordsSECTION 102_Joshua'S Old Age--Division For The Eastern Tribes._
Yet Joshua was not to complete that work to which he had contributed so much: "there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed." At one time, no doubt, he thought otherwise, and he desired otherwise. When the tide of victory was setting in for him so steadily, and region after region of the land was falling into his…
796 wordsSECTION 103_Joshua'S Old Age--Division For The Eastern Tribes._
So Joshua must be content to have done his part, and done it well, although he did not conquer all the land, and there yet remained much to be possessed. Without entering in detail into all the geographical notices of this chapter, it will be well to note briefly what parts of the country were still unsubdued. First, …
797 wordsSECTION 104_Joshua'S Old Age--Division For The Eastern Tribes._
But though the subjugation and occupation of the eastern part of the land was thus tolerably complete (with the exceptions just mentioned), it remained in the undisturbed possession of Israel for the shortest time of any. From Moabites and Ammonites on the south, Canaanites and Syrians on the north and the east, as wel…
714 wordsSECTION 105_Joshua'S Old Age--Division For The Eastern Tribes._
The other parenthetical statement respects the death of Balaam. "Balaam also, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword among them that were slain by them" (ver. 22). It appears from Numb. xxxi. 8 that the slaughter of Balaam took place in the days of Moses, by the hands of the expedition sent by h…
498 wordsSECTION 106_The Inheritance Of Caleb._[15]
JOSHUA xiv. 6-15. [15] There is some difficulty in adjusting the three passages in which the settlement of Caleb is referred to. From this first passage of the three, we are led to think that it was before the tribe of Judah obtained its portion. Again, from chap. xv. 13 we might suppose that it was simultaneously…
932 wordsSECTION 107_The Inheritance Of Caleb._[15]
[16] Some readers may no doubt prefer the explanation that when Caleb is mentioned alone one document was followed, and when Caleb and Joshua are coupled, another. It is beautiful to see that there was no rivalry between them. Not only did Caleb interpose no remonstrance when Joshua was called to succeed Moses, but …
905 wordsSECTION 108_The Inheritance Of Caleb._[15]
"I brought him word again, _as it was in my heart_." The statement is made in no boasting spirit, and yet what a rare virtue it denotes! Caleb, as we now say, had the courage of his convictions. He had both an honest heart and an honest tongue. We can have but little idea what temptations he lay under _not_ to speak wh…
880 wordsSECTION 109_The Inheritance Of Caleb._[15]
It seems that when acting as one of the twelve spies, Caleb had in some emphatic way taken his stand on Hebron. "The land _on which thy foot hath trodden_ will be an inheritance to thee." Perhaps the spies were too terrified to approach Hebron, for the sons of the Anakim were there, and, in the confidence of faith, Cal…
862 wordsSECTION 110_The Inheritance Of Caleb._[15]
And even now there are other Anakim among us for whom the fate of the Canaanite giants ought to be reserved. Anakim within us--greed, selfishness, love of ease, lust, passion, cruelty--all, if we are faithful, to be put to the edge of the sword. And there are Anakim, tremendous Anakim, around us--drunkenness, and all t…
351 wordsSECTION 111_The Distribution Of The Land._
JOSHUA xv.-xix. We come now in earnest to the distribution of the land. The two and a half tribes have already got their settlements on the other side of Jordan; but the other side of Jordan, though included in the land of promise, was outside the part specially consecrated as the theatre of Divine manifestation and d…
651 wordsSECTION 112_The Distribution Of The Land._
But the wrong spirit came in, and came in with a witness, and mischief ensued. For distinctions in race and family are apt to breed rivalry and enmity, and not only to destroy all the good which may come of variety, but to introduce interminable mischief. For many a long day the Scottish clans were like Ishmael, their …
802 wordsSECTION 113_The Distribution Of The Land._
The same law operates in the vegetable world. Everywhere plants seem to discover the localities where they thrive best. Even in the same country you have one flora for the valley and another for the mountain. The lichen spreads itself along the surface of rocks, or the hard bark of ancient trees; the fungus tarries in …
698 wordsSECTION 114_The Distribution Of The Land._
It was a great providential law, therefore, that was recognised in the partition of the land of Canaan among the tribes. Provision was thus made for so scattering the people that they should occupy the whole country, and become adapted to the places where they settled, and to the pursuits proper to them. Even where the…
683 wordsSECTION 115_The Distribution Of The Land._
[18] Judg. x. 4; Ruth ii. 1; 1 Sam. xxv. 2; 2 Sam. xvii. 27. [19] See the author's essay "An Old Key to our Social Problems" in "Counsel and Cheer for the Battle of Life." We in this country, after reaching the extreme on the opposite side, are now trying to get back in the direction of this ancient system. All part…
753 wordsSECTION 116_The Inheritance Of Judah._[20]
JOSHUA xv. [20] We do not encumber our exposition with a discussion of the extraordinary theory of Wellhausen, to the effect that Judah and Simeon, with Levi, were the first to cross the Jordan and attack the Canaanites; that Simeon and Levi were all but annihilated; that Joshua, who belonged to the tribe of Ephra…
685 wordsSECTION 117_The Inheritance Of Judah._[20]
Many parts of Judah were adapted for the growth of corn: witness Bethlehem, "the house of bread." But the cultivation of the vine was pre-eminently the feature of the tribe. "Here more than elsewhere in Palestine are to be seen on the sides of the hills the vineyards, marked by their watch-towers and walls, seated on t…
817 wordsSECTION 118_The Inheritance Of Judah._[20]
2. Next, a little episode comes into our narrative (vv. 13-19), in connection with a special allocation of territory within the tribe. The incident of Caleb is rehearsed, as an introduction to the narrative that follows. Caleb, on the strength of his promise to drive out the Anakim, had got Hebron for his inheritance, …
732 wordsSECTION 119_The Inheritance Of Judah._[20]
It is no great wonder that an incident which reveals the flowing generosity of a godlike heart, should sometimes be turned to account as a symbol of the liberality of God. All human generosity is but a drop from the ocean of the Divine bounty, a faint shadow of the inexhaustible substance. "If ye that are evil know how…
750 wordsSECTION 120_The Inheritance Of Judah._[20]
The third great group of cities were those of "the mountain," or highlands. These were mostly in the central part of the territory, on the plateau or ridge that runs along it, rising up from the valley of the Dead Sea on the east, and the Shephelah, or "valley," on the west. Here there were four groups of cities: eleve…
677 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.