Ver. 20.-Doomed to destruction. The evil men do often appears to be attributed in Scripture to the Dime will and agency (Exod. iv. 21; J udg. xiv. 4; 1 Kings xii. 15; Rom. ix. 17. 18). Ree.son and conscience, indeed, confirm the view St. James girns of the history of all transgression (James i. 13-15). Every ma.n's sin is emphatically his own-born of his own inward impulse, nourished by influences to which he freely and wilfully yields himself, and its deadly issue is his just ~nd natural recompense. God has nothing to do with it but to condemn and pumsh. How, then, can it be said of any form of evil that it is "of the Lord," or that a man does it because the Lord " has hardened his heart " ? Is it so that the wronl?- doer is after all but the passive instrument of a Divine purpose, and his life the working out of a Divine decree ? The perfect solution of this diffic_ult probl~m may be beyond us; but there are considerations that will shed much mterpretmg light upon it, and under tile guidance of which we may " a.ssert eternal Providence, And justify the ways of God to man." !. THE HAllDENING OF MEN'S HEARTS IN EVIL COURSES IS THE RESULT OF CERTAIN LAWS OF WHICH Gou IS THE AUTHOR. A suggestive analogy is found in the realm of material things. Nature has its stern impartial laws, its latent dangers, destruc- tive powers, deadly poisons, &c. If a man deals wantonly and recklessly with these, he arms them all against himself; but the blame of the mischief thus done cannot be laid on Him who made or ordained them. What is man's business in this world but just to utilise for good ends-to "use and not abuse "-the laws and resources of tile sphere in which the Creator has ple.ced him? So, morally, the circumstances of our existence upon earth work out good or evil result~ according as we are volwite.rily disposed to use them. The very influences that m one ce.,e tend to nourish the principles of a true and noble life, in another case harde,n tho Clt. XI. 1-28.) THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 1()9
heart in sin. God's part in this is simply to determine the conditions under which the process shall go on. The evil men do is their own ; the powers they pros- titute to their ba.se pnrposes, the place they occupy among their fellow-men, the o.dvantages tho.t favour the working out of their designs, the laws that govern the development of their sin to its fatal issues, are " of the Lord.'' II. WHEN MEN SHOW THAT THEY ARE RESOLUTELY BENT ON EVIL COURSE8, Goo MAY BEE FIT TO LEAVE THEM TO THEMSELVES. There is m morals, as in mechanics, a law of inertia by virtue of which we remain in a chosen state, or continue to move in a chosen direction, unless some stronger force is brought to bear upon us. Will and habit rivet the chain of iniquity. When a man's heart is thoroughly "set in him to do evil," God sometimea abandons him to his own choice, leaves him to become the prey of his own wayward and wicked infatuation (Prov. i. 31). In such a case the law of sin is simply left to take its course. The Divine act is negative rather than positiTe. It lies in the withholding of restraining or deliver- ing grace. And there is no injustice in this-nothing unrighteous in God thus allowing the heart to harden itself. Moreover, it is by the operation of a law of our nature that he who will not turn from his evil way shall at length come to a. point at which he cannot (Jer. xiii. 23). " Sins lee.d to greater sins, and link so straight, What first was accident, at last is fate." And God, who established that law, is often said in Scripture to do that which takes place by virtue of it, or which resnlts from it. He has framed the whole constitu- tion of things under which it comes to pass that the impenitent sinner gradually becomes obdurate and closes against himself the door of hope. In this sense only can it be true that "it is of the Lord to harden men's hearts." III. Goo OFTEN WORKS OUT, THROUGH THE WORST FORMS OF HU:UAN EVIl., Hrs GRANDEST ISSUES OF GOOD. In tracing the course of earthly affairs, we have to draw a very distinct line of separation in our minds between the wicked will and purpose of man, and the overmastering will and purpose of God. The -sovereignty of the latter is most triumpho.ntly asserted when the former has been suffered to reach its utmost limits, and work its deadliest work. The utter destmction of these Canaanites, aggravated by their own mad resistance, was essential to a full display of the majesty of the God of Israel, and the vindication of eternal righteous- ness. How important a part it has played in the general progress of humanity, who shall say? The triumph of redeeming mercy was brought about through the most heinous of e.11 human crimes. " Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God," &c. (Acts ii. 28). The "hands" were none the less " wicked" because through them God accomplished His holy nnd loving will. The Son of man was born into the world to be betrayed and cmcified and slain ; but that does not lighten the curse that falls on the betrayer and the murderer. Across the do.rk thunder-cloud of man's evil, God casts tbe bright and beautiful rainbow of hope. Tbe darkness is man's-the hope is from Him "wbo is light, and in whom is no darkness at a.11."-W. Ver. 20.-The extermination of the Canaanite&. The terrible extermination of the Canaanitish nations remains a mystery too hard for us to understancl. " It was of the Lord," we read (ver. 20). The history of Israel is designed to bring out in an impressive mo.nner, by outwo.rd and visible facts, the constant intervention of God in human destinies. Tbe history of our race is a fearful drama of blood and tears, in which ruin a.nd devo.station moet us on every hand. The Okl Testament teaches us that in this history the purposes of Divine justice are carried out. It shows us the great Justiciary perpetually working. We might almost say that the veil which usually conceals His operation is lifted, so that we see that " om Goel is a consuming fire'' (Heb. xii. 29). If we look into the causes of this extermino.tion of the Canaanites, we see that it was brought about by the excessive corrnptuess 0f the life of these people, unde1· the influence of their impure idoh1tries. The same conditions are found to-day at the root of all the woes that afflict humanity. Tile 200 THE 13001{ OF JOSHUA, [ CH. XI. 1-23,