The Pulpit Commentary — Joshua — Section 5

How long he enjoyed the reRt which something like a century of toil he,d earned, we do not know, for there is no clear indication of the number of yenrs occupied by the conquest and diYision of the laud. But he reached the age of a hundred e.nd ten, and the end of his life was in harmony with the rest of it. His last publio act was to rnmmon the tribes with their officers to Shechem, already a place of solemn associations (Josh. nii. 30-35; Gen. xii. 6, 7; xxxiii. 18-20; xxxv. 2, 4), and the deetinecl resting-place of the bones of Joseph (Josh. xxiv. 82), and gave them a farewell charge to remain ever faithful to Jehovah. It might seem as if such e. charge could scarcely be needed ; self-interest alone would suffice to secure fidelity; for never before or since has an invading force had such manifest help from Heaven, But Joshua knew his own nation. The murmurings and rebellions and idolatries in the wilderness were still fresh in his memory; and therefore, almost with his last breath, he exhorted them to beware of the abominations with which they had come in contact, and reminded them of the consequences both of obedience and disobedience. It is not as a warrior that the aged commander addresses them: it is not to talk over old campaigns, or to stir them up to future conquests, that he has sent for theIJ?,: rather as one on the brink of the grave he would speak to them of the one thing needful-holiness and the fear of the Lord. "And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the sou· of Nun (no longer "Moses' minister," but now like Moses) the servant of the Lord, died, being a hundred and ten yea.re old" (Josh. xxiv. 29). Thus, in the simplicity of mind in which he had lived, and fought, and ruled, this aged servant of the Lord passed away to that better country, of which the one which he had conquered was but a figure, and to a closer know- ledge of Him under whose visible command he had fought at Jericho (eh. v. 13- vi. 5), and of whom he had through life in so many pe.rticnle.re been a type. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews (eh. iv. 8) seems to direct our attention to Joshua as a type of the Saviowr (comp. Acts vii. 45). Certainly Christian writers outside the New Testament, from Justin Martyr downwards, have delighted in this aspect of the son of Nun. The very name suggests it, although in interpreting Scripture we mnst be on our guard against fanciful ideas suggested by names. Hoshea (salvation) became J eho-shua, or Joshua (God's salvation, or God the sanour). See Nwn. xiii. 16; xiv. 6, 30. And in the LXX. the Greek translation of the name is "l71uov, (Jesus), the form which the name assumes in the New Testament, where our translators have .unfortunately retained the Greek, instead of returning to the Hebrew form (Acts vii. 45; Heb. iv. 8). The following points seem in this case to justify our accepting the name as "nomen et omen" of a career full of Llessed meaning. (1) Joshua began hie life by sharing the sufferings of his brethren in Egypt ; so Jesus took upon Him the form of a servant, and shared the lot of His brethren. (2) The imperfect work of Moses was taken up and completed by J oehua: in a far higher sense it was taken up and completed by Christ; the Law was perfected in the Gospel. (3) In accordance with their common name, both saved the people given to them by the Father from their enemies. (4) Both " went forth conquering, and to conquer ; " and both conquered after being at first apparently defeated through the sins of others. (5) Joshua brought the Chosen People into the Promised Land, and gave them rest and a home in it. J esue bringe the elect into the kingdom prepared for them, and gives them rest and an eternal home in the "many mansions" of the Father. Other analogies in matters of detail are .at least interesting, although to some they may !!';!em less certain than those already noticed. (6) Both entered on their ministry on the banks of Jordan.  JOSHUA TO NEHEMIAH. vii