Souls, the Wilderne!s, b:cauſe your Temprtaricns are now more and ſtronger ; partly, from the . Examples and infinuations of your bad Neighbours; the remainders of this wicked p--p/e; and partly from your own Peace and Proſperity ; and rhe Pride, Security,For- getſulineſs of God, and Luxury, which uſually atrend upon that con» dition, as God had warned them, Deut: 6: 10, 11, 12: ;
12 Elſe, if ye doin any wile go back , and cleave unto the remnant of theſe nations, ever theſe that re- main among you, and ſhal make marriages with them, and go in unto them y, and they to you ;
x From God, and from his worſhip and ſervice. »y The Phraſe notes the Matrimonial att.
12 Know tora certainty, that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of theſe nations from before
*Fxod: you; * bur they ſhal be ſnares and traps unto you z,and 23: 33- ſcourges in your ſides, and thorns in your eyes a; until Numb: ye perich from off this good Jand þ which the LORD 335 $5» , : |
our God hath given you. | | | mo 7. 7 z By your ur to them, and converſe with them, you will
be inticed and drawn by degrees into their Errors, and Impieties, and brutiſh Luſts. « When chey have inveagled, and ſeduced, and thereby weakned you, then they will moleit and vex you, no lels than a ſevere Scourge doth amans ſides which are Jaſhed by ir,or than a ſmall Thorn doth the Eye when it is got within it. 6 They ſhal ſo Perſecute you, and Fight againſt you wich ſuch Succeſs, that you ſhal be forced to quit your own Land, and wander you know not whither; which muſt needs be very Terrible to them to think of, when they compared this preſent Eaſe, apd Plenty and Safety, with the Pains, and Wearinets, aad Hazards, and Waats of their
former Wandrings-
14 And behold,this day T a»: going the way ot all the earth c, and ye know in all your hearts, and in all your
= —
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fouls 4, that * not one thing hath failed e of all the good * Chap; things which the LORD your God ſpake concerning ** 45: you ; all are come to paſs unto you, and not one thing
' hath failed thereof.
c (7.e.) Of all fleth,or of all men; the way which all men go; I am about to Die as all men muſt, Heb: 9g: 5 The ſame Paralc is 1 Kings 232, 4 (i.e. ) You k1ow afſuredly ; your own experience puts 1t out of all queſtion. e Qs. How is this ture when ſv great a part of the Promited Land and Pecple y.t remain unconquer:d ? Arnſ. God promiſed them to deſtroy all their Enemies, and td grve them the whole Land, not at once, but by degrees, by little and little, as is expreſled, Deut: 7: 22. and as was moſt convenient for them.
I5 Therefore it ſha! come to paſs, that as all good things are come upon you,which the LORDyour God promiſed
- o o + .
you; ſo ihal the LORD bring upon you * all evil things * Levir. f, until he have deſtroyed you from off this gocd land, 2© '6
j R I Deut: 28: which the LORD your God hath given you. , mgeS—7 f The accompliſhment of Gods promiſes is a Pledge or Aſſurance, ? that he w1ll alſo fulfil his Threatnings ; both of them depending up= on the ſame ground, the faithfulneis of God 16 When ye have tranſgrefſed the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and ſerved other gods, and bowed your ſelves ts them ; then ſhal the anger of the LORD be kindled a- gainſt you, and ye hal periſh quickiy trom off the good land which he hath given you. CH A P. XXIV. Toſbua aſſembles all the tribes to Shechem, 1. A brief Hiſtory of Gods Benefits from Terah ; exhorts them faitefully to ſerve the true God, 2. 13" Re- neweth a Covenant between them and God ; promiſing for himſelf and his Houſe ; the people four ſeveral times promiſing for themſelves, 14— 25. He writ2s tis in the Book of the Law ; ana ſe!s up # ſlone for @ witneſs, 26=— 28. His age, death, and burial, 29==31. The burying of Joſephs Bones, 32. The death and burial of Eleazar, 33. ,
AN Joſhua gathered all the tribes of Iſrael « to She-
chem 6b, and called for the elders of Iſrael, and for the heads, and for the judges, and for their officers, and chey preſented themſelvs before God c.
a To wit, by their Repreſentatives, as Joſ: 23: 2. b Either 1. To Shiloh, where the Ark and Tabernacle was ; becauſe they are here 21d ro preſent themſclves before God ; and becauſe the Stone {et up here 'S {aid to be ſet up in, or by the ſanRuary of.the Lord ; of both which I {hall ſpeak in their proper places. And they ſay Shiloh is here cal- ed Shechem. becauſe it was in the Territory of Shechem ; bur that may be doubted, ſeing Shiloh was Ten Miles diſtant from Shechem, as S. Jerom athrms, And had he meant Shilob, why ſhould he not expreſs it in its own and proper name, by which it is called in all o- ther places, rather than by agother name no where elſe given to it ? Or rather, 2: To the City of Shechem, a place convenient for the preſent purpoſe, not only becauſe ir was a Levirical Cityy and a City of Refuge, and a place near to Jeſbua's City, but eſpecialy for the two main ends for wh:ch he ſummoned them thither. 1. Forthe ſolemn Burial ofthe Bozes of Joſeph, as is implied here wv: 32: andof the reſt of tie Patriarchs, as is noted As 7: 15, 16: for whichthis place was deſigned. 2. For the fo'emn renewing of their Covenant with God; which in th.s place was firſt made between God and 4brabamy Gen:
Chap. XIv |
X SS *® >
'2: 6, 7. and afterwards was there renewed by the /ſraclites at their
rſt entranc= into the Land of Canaan, between the two mountains of Ebat and Gerizim, Jof. 82 30, ©: which were very near Shechem, as appears from ſuages 9: 6, 7. and therefore this place was moſt proper, both to remind them of their former obligations to Ged, and
to engage them to a farther ratification of them. c Either 1. Be-
tore the Ark or Tabernac'e, as that Phraſe is commonly uſed; which might beeither in $4.10þ, where they were fixed; or in She- chem, whirher the Ark was brought upon this great occaſion, as it was ſometimes 1emoved upon ſuch occaſions, as 1 Sam: 4: 3. 2 Sam:
15*24 Or 2. In rhat Pubiick, and Venerable, and Sacred Aſſembly
met togerher for Religious Exerciſes; for in ſuch God is preſent,
Exod 203 24. Pſais 82: 1, Mats 183 203 Or 3. As in Gods preſence, to hear what Joſbua was to ſpzzk to them in Gods Name, and to re-
ceive (Gods Commands from his mouth. Thus J/aac is ſaid to Bleſs Jacob before the Lord, 1 e. in his Name and Preſence, Gen: 27: 13 and
Jephthah is ſaid to witer all his words before the Lord in Mizeph, i. e. as