The Pulpit Commentary — Joshua — Section 362

dea,I; its form is fixed, a,nd we ca,n determine a,t once how to meet it. But the future is filled with "ma,y-bes" so indefinite and changeful in their form that we oo.nnot settle how to meet or wha,t to do with them. In the case of Israel God covered a,II this darkness with His good words of hope. He would go before them ; they should be broug~t to a land flowing with milk and honey; no enemy shonld sta,ncl ?efore them; vmeyards they had not planted, cities they had not buiH, should be t~e1:s, Ther should ~nd an earthly dwelling-place singularly suited for their h:abitation: fertile for their sustenance, secure for their safety, central for the cliffu. sion of their truth. So God speaks to all His Israel. To every one some promise is given. Even His prodigal children have some promise to cheer them. His sun of promise rises on the evil and on the good; but on the good it sheds its richest warmth. There are great words given to us. Providential mercies are prrmised; support of the Spirit of all ,!!Tace is assured us: the Voice behind saying, "This is the way, walk ye in it:" and that temptations shall not overpower, nor inward weak• ness destroy us; that we shall be more than conquerors through Him that loved us; that death itself shall be a ministering angel, wrestling with us, but blessing us at" break of day;" that there will be an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom, a perfected likeness to our Lord, an occupation before the throne, in which all our power will find delight and all our capacities be filled with satisfaction. These are the pledges given us. It is well tg realise how vast they are, how worthy of the generosity of the infinite God. Be not di11mayed, there is no sorrow whose consolation is not pledged in some word of promise, and no perplexity the solution of which is not tendered in some other. Marvel not that the words seem too vast to belong to us. The dimensions of mercy are Divine. Put against every thought of fear these words of comfort and of hope. We are sad and fearful chiefly because we forget them.. God speaks good things unto Israel. Observe secondly- II. IT SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE THAT THESE WORDS SHOULD NOT FAIL. When Moses brought them, the people "believed not for anguish of spirit and cmel bondage." How could such promises be redeemed? They, a nation of slaves, whose spirit was ground out of them; their oppressor having a standing army, strong in cavalry? Impossibilities multiplied as they advanced. By the route they took they found themselves he=ed in by ranges of hills on either hand, sea in front, foe behind them. How could they reach the other side ? There were desert difficulties, or rather impossibilities, as to water and food. How could they possibly dispossess the Canaanitish nations, all of them stronger than themselves-these peoples of Gilead in their fortresses, impregnable by nature, and rendered still more so by consu=ate art and by the marvellous vigour of the inhabitants? Without artillery of any kind, how could it be deemed a possibility to reduce the fenced cities of the Canaanites? How was Jordan to be crossed, with its deep mvine and swift stream that made it one of the strongest lines of defence tha,t any nation ernr had? Ten out of the twelve spies-all of them of course chosen for their courage-declai·ecl the task an utter impossibility. And it is worth our while to mark this, for there is a sort of family likeness running through all God's promises ; ancl almost all ha ,-e this look of impossibility about them. I suppose all. spies are apt to feel that the promises God has made to us cannot possibly be fulfilled. One battling mth doubts deems continuance in saintly living impossible, though God promises grace suf- ficient. One battling with strong proneness to sin feels it impossible that a feeble seed of grace should survive and conquer forces so much stronger than itself. The promise of usefulness resulting from om· labour seems impossible of fulfilment, so does the promise of answers to our prayers. 'l'he promise_ of some survival of dealh and of our fragile spirit wea,thering all storms, ancl reaching a pel'fect home, see ins impossible to be fulfilled. It is well to ma,rk exactly the force _of tlie_ fov~unte promises. They are not poor proba,bilities. They a,re the gmnd 1mpos~1b1hlles of life. The supernatural enters into all our hopes. They cannot be 1·er:hsetl unless God troubles Himself about them. We must not try and eke out fmth W!th the considera,tion of na,tural probabilities. The natural probabilities are all against ,my one of the grander promises being fulfilled. Bt1t thirdly obserYe- ,, III. ALL THE PROMISES WERE FULFILLED. 1 1 All came to pass. There failed 810 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA [cu. xxi. 1-4/J.