The Pulpit Commentary — Joshua — Section 357

country shonld correspond, it m11y fairly be urged, with the ecc!eRir1stic11l 1trmnge• ments of the promised lfmd. On the other hand, it must not be forgotten that tho whole history of Isrnel, from. Moses downw11rds, shows tlmt tho civil nmgistrate hr1d R lr1rge influence in ecclesiastical affairs. Not to go beyond the limits of the present book, we have instances of the exertion of such an influence in eh. iii. 6, 6; iv. 10, 17; v. 2, 3; vi. 6; xxi. 1. Some additional considerations are r1dded. I. THE LEVITES RECEIYED THEIR INHERITANCE LAST OF ALL. This self-11bnegation -...-as fitting among those who were specially appointed to the service of God. So, in like m11nner, should the min(sters of Jesus Christ, instead of grasping eagerly at power or pelf, be desirous of bemg "last of all an,l se1·vant of all,'' in in1itation of Him who was among His own disciples as one that sen·cth. It may be added in a spirit, not of boasting, but of thankfulness, that never we.s there. a time, since the hour of the first fervour of the gospel in the days of the Apostles, when this spirit was more abundantly displayed than in our own age and country-when there were so many ministers of God content to se1.-e God in tile sanctuary, without tile prospect of earthly countenance or reward. Let tllem not murmur if men take these things as a matter of course, but look forward to tile "recompense of tile re"·ard.'' II. PROPER PR0,ISION WAS MADE FOR THE SERVICE OF Goo. Tile Levites were carefully dispersed throughout all tile tribes of Israel, not, of course, for tile service of the sanctuary, whicll was kept up e.t one place only, but obviously in order to diffuse among tile tribes a knowledge of and attacllment to the law of God. A similar provision has been made in all Christian countries. At first, bodies of men were gathered together in the cllief cities of a country, from whence the rural districts were gradually evangelised. Thence, by an extension of the principle of Lentical dispersion, came our present institution of a resident minister or ministers in every nlle.ge. To thls institution, more tllan to any otller, do we owe the diffusion of Christian principles througllout tile whole land. It would be the sorest of all calamities were any untoward event to overthrow it. Ill. PROPER PROTISION WAS MADE FOR THE M.\INTENANCE OF THE CLERGY AND MIKISTERS OF RELIGION. Here we may do well to quote Mattllew Henry, who says, referring to tile words, "The Lord co=anded by the hands of Moses,'' and obsernng that tile Levites based tllei..r claim, not on their own merits or services, but on tile command of God: "Note, tile maintenance of ministers is not an arbitrary thlng, left purely to the good-will of tile people, wllo me.y let them starve if tlley please, but a perpetual ordinance tlle.t • those w llo preacll tile gospel sllould li,e of tile gospel' (1 Cor. ix. 14), and sllould live comfortably." Many other passages in tile ~ew Testament enforce this truth (e.g., 1 Cor. ix. 7, 11; Gal. vi. 6). The clergy may feel a natural repugnance to enlarge upon tllat in which they tllemselves ha,e a personal interest, and whlcll tlleir flocks miglit find in the word of God. But they sllould not be deterred by e.n over-scrupulous feeling fr~m doing their duty. Tiley are bound to declare tile -whole counsel ?f God. And 1f, by a?l insufficient pronsion for God's ministers, the cause of God 1s likely to suffer (and it is to be feared tllat sucll is now very often the case), if the energies whicll should be devoted entirely to God's cause are dissipated in worldly anxieties, in endeavours to keep the wolf from the door, in efforts to eke out a too scanty income by otller l&bours than tllose of the sanctuary, it is plainly their duty to speak out. Instead of "living of the gospel," it is to be feared that there are many clergymen and tlleir families starving of the gospel, though they have too much self-respect to let tile fact be known. And whlle the spectacle of ecclesiastics rolling in riches e.nd li\-ing iclly and luxuriously is a llateful one, on the other hand, our present he.p- llazard regulations, which deprive e. good many estimable clergymen of the wh~re· witllal to purcllase tlleir daily bread, and keep e. good many more in e.nx1ou~ suspense, wllether it may not one day be so with themselves, a.re no less an offence in the eyes of God. on. XXI, 1-46.] 'fHE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 805