HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vera. 6-13.-The force of personal testimony anuJ, influence. These verseii are an explana.tion of how the evils came about which Israel deplored at Bochim. They explain, too, the fact tha.t idolatry had not yet made much way amongst the people. "They described the whole period in which the people were submissive to the word of God, although removed from under the direct guidance of Joshua. The people were faithful when left to themselves by Joshua, faithful after his death, faithful still in the days of the elders who outlived Joshua. That whole generation which had seen the mighty deeds which attended the conquest of Canaan stood firm. Our passage says, 'for they had seen,' whereas Josh. xxiv. 31 says, 'they had known.' 'To see' is more definite the.n 'to know.' The facts of history may be known as the acts of God without being witnessed and experienced. Bnt this generation had stood in the midst of events ; the movements of the conflict and its results were still present in their memories" (Cassel). A new generation arises which" knows not Jehovah, nor yet the works which he had done.'' The" elders "-Joshua and his contemporaries- did this service ; not ,.mly were they themselves faithful to God, but they kept alive the recollection of his mighty deeds and the national piety of Israel. I. TESTIMONY IS OF GREATEST EFFECT WHEN IT IS THAT OF THOSE WHO HAVE SEEN AND KNOWN. St. John makes this claim for himself and his fellow apostles (1 John i. 1), and even St. Paul declares that Christ was manifested to him also as unto one that was born out of due time. It is a law of our nature upon which this pro- ceeds. The nearer we are to our own personal experience, other things being equal, the more are we impressed with the reality of events. It was as if the people themselves had seen the miracles of the exodus when they had still amongst them Joshua and the elders. This advantage may be realised by Christians to-day. The gospel facts must become a real experience in the heart of him who would seek to influence. others. By faith it may be so. We too may see our Saviour face to face. The preacher's vivid realisation of the supernatural and the Divine often exercises an overwhelming effect upon the hearer; whereas, on the other hand, to speak of onr Saviour and his works as if we were telling an idle tale is to expose ourselves to certain failure. A Church that could relive the heroisms of the cross would be irresistible. II. IT RECEIVES FRESH CONFIRMATION IN THE BEHAVIOUR OF THE WITNESSES. They were holy men. They lived in the conste.nt remembrance of those awe-inspiring scenes. This was the most effective way of conveying to others their own impres- sion and enthusiasm. Witness like this is within reach of all, and does not require scholarsJ.iip to make it possible. III. DEATH AND TIME ARE THE GREAT IMPA.lRERS OF THIS INFLUENCE. With each good man who dies a witness disappears. The further we get in years from the actual scenes of miraculous power, the less effect are they calculated to produce. But the word of God Iiveth and endureth for ever, and God repeats spiritually the signs and mighty acts of his salvation in the experience of every true believer.-M.
Vera. 11-13.-lsrael's apostasy. The repeated apostasy of Israel and the conse- quences of it furnish the ever-recurring theme of the darker pages of the Book of Judges. It may be well, therefore, to look at the subject generally, apart from special instances. I. THE NATURE OF THE APOSTASY. 1. It consisted in forsaking God. All sin begins here, because while we live near to him it is impossible for us to love and follow evil. If we cannot serve, God and mammon, so long as we are faithful to God we shall be safe from the idolatry of worldliness. The guilt of forsaking God is great because it involves (1) disobedience to our Father, (2) ingratitude to our Benefuctor, (3) the full from devotion to the Highest to lower pursuits. 2. This apostasy consisted in the worship of other gods. The shrine of the heart cannot long be empty. Man is a religious being, and he will have some religion; if not the highest and purest, then some lower form of worship. We must have a rnlU!ter, a 3:od. 3. There was nothing inventive in the apostasy of Israel. The people only 24 THE BOOK OF JUDGES. [en. n. 14--23.
worshipped the old deities of tl1e native population. They who give up Christianity for supposed novel forms of religion generally find themselves landed in some old- world superstition. 4. The guilt of the apostasy was agg·ravated by the character of the worship into which the people fell. This was (1) false-the worship of supposed gods which possessed no Divine power; (2) materialistic-the worship of idols i11 place of the unseen spiritual God; and (3) immoral-the worship of impure deities with impure rites. II. TrrE CAUSES OF THE APOSTASY. 1. Defective education. So long as Joshua and bis contem~ornry ~lders Jived the people remained faithful. Apostasy arose in a new " generation which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel." But if the former generation had trained its children aright they would not have been thus ignorant. The Church should feel the supreme importance of the religious education of the young. Her continued existence depends on this. Children do not inherit their father's religion by natural succession. They must be trained in it. 2. Circumstanca of ease. While the people were surrounded with the perils of the wilderness they displayed a moral heroism which melted beneath the sun of peaceful prosperity. Worldly comfort brings a great inducement to religious negli- gence. 3. Tolerance of evil. The earlier generation had failed to extirpate the idolatry of Canaan, and now this becomes a snare to the later generation. Indifference and indolence in regard to the wickedness which is around us is certain to open the door of temptation to our children, if not to ourselves. 4. The worldly attractions of the lower life. Tbe service of God involves high spiritual efforts, purity of life, self-sacrifice, and difficult tasks (Josh. xxiv. 19). The service of the world is more agreeable to the pleasures of sense and selfishness. Regarded from ·the low ground of sense and with the short sight of worldly wisdom, it is easier to worship Baal than to worship the Etemal.-A.