Pr11y for light, and in some way it will reach you. There 1s a living oracle for all who wish to walk according to the will of God. II. TRUE WISDOM COMMITS SMALL 'LHINGS AS WELL AS GREAT TO Gon's CARE. A child tells all to the parent that it trusts ; the least discomfiture-the gTeatest distress. And when we have the chihl-like heart we commit all to God, feeling that the least is not too little for His great love. The ability is developed of rising on every occasion in thought to Him, till the mood becomes so confiding, so expectant, that it fom1s a" prayer without ceasing." And this habit of co=itting all be- comes fortified by the wisdom which observes how often the issues of things are to be in the inverse ratio of their seeming importance: vast consequences flowing from what seem most trivial events, and events that seem of a stupendous character leaving no trace of influence on after history. So, little things as well as great are lifted by the devout heart to the Divine .ear. Joshua here thought recourse to the oracle needless bec1mse the matter seemecl unimportant. But it hacl more import- ance than he knew. Strangely enough, this compact wi!h G ibeon fixes the resting- place of the ark for centuries, right down to the time of David. For Kirjath- jearim was one of the cities of Gibeon, and it was probably the resitlence there of the Giheonites that determined the resting there of the ark. This, in its tun:1, threw the centre of the national life to the southward, helped the supremacy of Judah, the choice of Jerusalem as capital, the subordination of Ephraim and Samaria. If Joshua had seen all that hung on his decision, he would not because of the seeming insignificance of the matter have neglected the oracle. Take God into thy counsel in all matters, less and larger. Commit the little acts to His decison, surrender the little things which self-will woulcl decide. "Faithful in least, faithful in mnch;" and, even so, devout in least, devout in much. Christ raised the dead, and then , said, " Give her something to eat;'' the omnipotent miracle, the homely kindness, JOSHUA, M 162 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. [ CH, X, 1-48,
being equally characteristio of Him. Walk with God always. In lee.et things consnlt His oracle. III. ALL MAKE MISTAKES, BUT Gon's SAINTS PROFIT BY THEM. This is the ~econd mistake of the same kind which Joshua has made since crossing Jordan. Not consulting the oracle, he sends too few men against Ai. Not consulting the oracle, he makes this covenant with Gibeon. But our text recording the mistake shows how it wa,s discovered,, and the repetition of it avoided. There is no mistake which is absolute mischief, it will always giYe us at least a lesson. Blessed are ihey who can tm-n all their faults into schoolmasters. For though such school- masters use the lash, they give good teaching, being skilled to teach humility, watchfulness, dependence on God. Tum your faults to good account, and every act of folly into a spring of wisdom. Lastly. observe, that not only did Joshua torn the fault to account, but- IY. Gon MAKES THE BEST OF A GOOD MAN'S MISTAKES. After all, the alliance with Gibeon gave them entrance into a position of importance, became the occasion of the great ,ictory of Beth-boron, and has no traceable results of mischief. Thus it eYer is. God makes the best of us and of our work. When the heart is right our e,ery failing is turned to good account. Be not too nervous about the results of our actions. For when the purpose is honest and devout- '' Our indiscretions ofttimes serve us well. There's a Divinity that shapes our ends, Bough-hew them as we will." G. EXPOSITION. CHAPTER X. 1-43. more modem Hebrew idiom, just as the Greeks afterwards twisted the name into THE BATTLE OF BETH-HOBOS, A..= THE BUB· Hierosolyma, or the holy Bolyma. But a rnG.1.TION or SouTHEns PALESTINE.-Ver.1.- 1UI11pler explanation may be found in the fact Adoni-zedec (cf. Melchizedek in Gen. xiv. that Jerusalem, like many other cities, con- l&). The name given to the king of Jerusa- sisted of two parts, the upper and the lower lem was good enough, and no doubt was a town (cf. Judg. i. B with ver. l, 7 and 21, and sw:Tirnl of earlier and purer times. In the 2 Sam. v. 6-B), while in earlier times the dan ol Melchizedek the name corresponded upper or lower town alone existed. Plural to ·the character. Jerusalem. Hebrew, Jeru- names of cities were not uncommon in later shn la im, with the usual dual termination. ages, as Athena, and Thebre. The name It has Leen generally supposed to be the same has been variously derived. Some have with Salem, or rather Shalem, the city of thought that as it is also called Jebus (eh. which Melchizedek was king. and this is sup- xviii. 28 ; Judg. xix. 10), from its being the ported b_v the fact that the name of Salem is chief city of the J ebusites, it was originally given to Jerusalem in Psa. lxxvi. 2. But it is Jebus-salem, and hence by a corruption by no means certain that this is the case. J ernsalem. But this derivation has now The first to :l.ispute the identity of the two been abandoned, and opinions differ as to places was St. Jerome, who declares that the Salem of Melchizedek was eight miles from , whether it is derived from l:i-l"1'. and Cl?.~ sig- Scythopolis, and that the ruins of the palace nifying " peaceful inheritance " (Ewald, of Melchizedek could still be seen there (see also Gen. x.xxiii. 18). The term Salem, as Keil), or from n,: and Cl?I? " peaceful indicative of the security and strength of settlement" (Gesenius, Lee). Gesenius ob- Jerusalem, might not unnaturally be ap- jects to the former derivation that it would plied to it by the Psalmist; while, on the require dageeh in the l:i. The fathers and other hand, the dual form of Jerusalem medimval divines, misled by Origen, trans- seems difficult to account for on the theory late it " vision of peace." This translation of the identity of Jerusalem and Salem. is alluded to in the well-known hymns Urb• This dual form has been a difficulty to beata Sion and O quanta qualia. Origen critics; and Mr. Grove, in the 'Dictionary supposed it to come from i1~"1. Another of the Bible,' conjectures that it may have difficult question is when the name was arisen from an attempt to twist the archaic given, for there can be little doubt that the PhCBnician form into agreement with the Book of Joshua, was written before the time cm. x. 1-48.] THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 163