The Pulpit Commentary — Joshua — Section 191

o.ccompnnied at 6:rst by an ende~vour to screen it from the gaze of our fellows, yet very soon the desll'e for secrecy IS overcome by the more potent wish to speak of the deed which lies so heavily upon the conscience, Otherwise, as with the Spnrtnn boy who, in hiding a fox under his tunic, allowed it to devour his very entrails, we shall discover thnt our concealment of sin can only end in the destrnc- tion of our being. And if it be thus helpful to discharge our woes and our follies into the ear of 0, fellow-creature, how much greater must be our satisfaction when we ha,ve poured our tale into the audience of our heavenly Father. Men may view us with loathing, and shrink from future contact with us ; they may fail even to mnke allowance for the strength of the temptation and the difficulties un<ler which we laboured; but our Father is acquainted with all the circumstances, loves us as His children, and, whilst pained at our backsliding, is glad to witness our contrition. In Acban's confe~sioll there are several features worthy of imitation. I. It was a full confe,qsion. There was no more dissembling, but an open declaration of all he bad done. No attempt to extenuate bis guilt ; he laid it bare in all its enormity. The antithesiE! to confession is covering our sins, which may take place in various ways. We may try to justify them as necessary or excusable, as Saul did when he spared Agag. We may show that the matter was compara- tively trifling and unimportant, as when we give names that soften vices and lessen our apprehension of them. Or we may charge other persons or things with the responsibility, shifting the blame from ourselves, pleading the requirements of business, the rules of society, the expectations of our friends, and the solicitations received, as when Adam replied, "The woman thou gavest, she gave me of the tree.'' 2. It acknowledged that the chief injury had been committed against God. "I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel." He bad displayed e. spirit of in- gratitude and disobedience, and though he bad brought evil upon the nation, and deserved their reprobation, he knew that it was the Almighty whom his conduct had especially wronged. So David cried, '' Against thee, thee only have I sinned." Jesus Christ joined together the two branches of the moral law; but there are many who seem to think that if they fulfil their duty to their neighbour, their duty to God matters not. They say, "I have never done harm to any, have always pa.id my debts, been truthful and bonest, charitable and upright; what sin, then, ba,e I been guilty of? " We might in answer deny the accuracy of their statements, since due regard to others can hardly be observed a.part from regard to God ; but it is better, perhaps, to insist upon the obligation resting upon every man to "love the Lord with all his might," and to point out the numerous instances in which the worship and ordinances of God have been uncared for at the same time that selfish pleasures have been indulged in to the full. When the prodigal comes to himself, he does not merely resolve to reform, and that in future he will not join in the rioting of the world, but will live soberly before men ; his one thought is to retw-n to his Father and to confess, "Father, I have sinned age.inst heaven and before thee."· a. It was a confession to the people, since they had suffered through his mis- conduct. Ache.n's avowal wns made in the face of Israel, and was followed by punishment according to the law. "Confess your faults one to anothe1·." Conclusion.-The <lay approaches when "God shall bring every work into judg- • ment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil."-A. Ver. 21.-.A sin of g1·eed. Here we have much profitable study. Some sins are peculiar to certain ages or countries. But greed is found in all lands and times. It specially thrives in periods of wealth nncl of prosperity. It- oreeps in where faults of uglier aspect a.re denied admission. It flourishes wherever the power of religion has decayed while its profession continues. Here is an instan~e of its action in all its meanness, disclosure, mischief, and retribution. Consider it. I. Mark AcHAN's FAULT. There was this feature peculiar in the capture of Jericho-that man had no hand in it. It was God's work throughout. No risk, no loss was entailed on Israel. The earthquake of God-if such was the mode of JOSHUA, K 130 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. [en. vn. IG-20,