The Pulpit Commentary — Joshua — Section 86

I. IN REALITY, NO SECTION OF Gon's PEOPLE CAN LIVE AN ISOLATED LIFE. It would be vain for the Reubenites to clream that they could rest at eaae uncler their vines arnl fig trees. '.rhe clefee.t of their brethren would recoil upon them, ancl should the Cana.anites be victorious the Reubenites would quickly find themselves driven out of the land. And it is the Rame with the Church-each for all, awl all for each; this is the Church's motto. Therefore it is that all shoulcl rally round the great standard of the army. • II. Fon ANY SECTION OF Gon's PEOPLE TO ISOLATE THEllSELVES in their prosperity is not only the sure way to impoverish ancl ultimately to ruin themselves, bnt it IS TREASON TO THE KING OF THE SPIRITUAL KiNGDOM; for it implies that the first object of desire is prpsperity for themselves, not the glory of the King; that He is love cl, not with a pure, but witil a selfish love . •III. SUCH ISOLATION HARDENS THE HEART. It is a violation of the first law of the kingdom-the law of love. Its tendency is, as far as possible, to obliterate that law. It ignores the fact that we receive only to ,pve again. Let us fully grasp, then, this great truth, that every blessing received 1s a trust placed in our hancls only that we may diffuse it among our brethren. The applications of this g1:eat precept of Christian love are innumerable. Do we possess in la1·ge measure the good things of this world? It is that we may communicate to our less favoured brethren. Are we rich in spiritual gifts? It is that we may impart to those less privileged and of fewer opportunities than ourselves. And as we are indebted to the Church, so are we also to humanity, for are we not all one flesh? Hence the claim of missions, both at home and abroad, as a means of imparting the gifts of God already received by us to those who as yet are ignorant of them. Nor is this all. After having won the victory for ourselves, we have to begin the battle over again, and to suffer in sympathy with those who_ have yet the Jordan to cross. Let us never forget Him who left the blessedness of heaven to undertake our cause, and who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor.-E. DE P. Vers. 12-15.-Duties of brotherhood. We have here a fine appeal, anu a fine answer to that appeal. Arrived at_ the Jordan, they are about to make that in,;asion of PalesLine which gave the Church of God a country and truth a home. At first the settlement of all the twelve tribes in the country between the Jordan and the sea seems to have been the design of Moses. But " the region beyond Jordan" was fertile-a finer land for flocks than Canaan itself. It was not surprising, therefore, that the pre-eminently pastoral tribes of Reuben, Gacl, and Manasseh should desire to settle there. And when the opposition of Og, king of Bashan, ancl Sihon, king of the Amorites, necessitatecl war, and ended in their defeat, the desire of these tribes found expression in a formal request. On the comlition that their settlement on the nearer side of Jordan. was not to be a " secession," and that they would help their brethren in the conquest of the whole land, l\Ioses luul gmntecl their request, ancl divided the territory between them. Now Joshua, on the deatil of Moses, requires their fulfilment of their pledge. Rest wouhl have been pleasant, and selfish reasons in plenty forthcoming for evading the fulfilment of their promise ; but the claim for brotherly help was mucle to men of brotherly nature. This cf1apter shows their prompt response, and the remainder of this Book shows- one might almost say all the subsequent books of the Bible do so-the splentli,l results of their brotherliness, I fincl a very perfect illustmtion of a great theme, viz., the cluty an<l blessedness of the more favouretl helping their less favoured brethren. Observe- I. 'rHE DUTY OF THOSE MORE EARLY, OR MORE RICHLY DLESSED, HELPING THEIR LESS FAVOURED nRETHREN. There are those more and those less favoured. Those that attain the desire of their hearts much earlier and much more fully than their brethren. God does not divide His favours as a communistic philosopher wouhl <lo. All are largely, but all unequally an<l diversely, blessed. So it happened here. Tile two ancl a half tribes had got all their fighting over before the others hacl well beguu. Had Israel entered the land of. Canaan by the south, as they probably woulcl ham done if they had uot shruuk frolll the enterprise on the xetllrn of the spies, then 20 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. [cH. I. 10-16,