The Pulpit Commentary — Joshua — Section 366

&noes, but of substantio.l anil enduring reality. " The things that are seen are temporal," &c. If there is fixity in the principles that govern the outer, how much more in those that govern the inner, life of man. Our earthly existence is a reRtless ebb nml flow of circumstance anil feeling. No two human histories, no two social situations, events, experiences, a.re alike. And yet there is " nothing new under the sun." "Tlrnt which hath been is now" &c. (Eccl. iii. 15). As the kaleidoscope, out of 11 few simple shapes and colours, presents ever-changing forms of beauty to the eye, so does tho revolution of our days and years embody in an endless variety of forms U10 primary principles and laws that govern our moral life. Those laws partake of the nature of the Lawgiver. They change not, "fail not," because He ill "without variableness," &c. Whether as regards the threatening of evil or the promise of good, all infallibly "come to pass." Conceive it in a single case to be otherwise, and the whole moral system of things is involved in utter confusion and hopeless ruin. II. THE SPHERE OF FULFILLED PROPHECY ILLUSTRATES IT. Prophecy, as at once an inspiration and a revelation, is essentially supernatural, Divine. As regards its predictive element, it is as a passing gleam of light from the Infinite Intelligence, to which all things, past, present, and future, are alike " naked and opened." The prophet, as_a seer, is one for whom God's own hand has for a moment lifted the veil of the future. Every really prophetic word is thus a Divine pledge, and its fulfilment is the redemption of that pledge. Biblical revelations from the beginning breathe the spirit of prophecy, and biblical history is rich in the verification of it. What is the whole career of Israel-its national existence, its captivitiei and deliverances, the advent of Messiah and His glorious kingdom, the after destiny of the Hebrew people-but the translation of prophecy into history ? Thus does age after age present some new testimony to the truth and faithfulness of God. Dis- pensations change, the generations come and go, but His purposes move on steaili!y to their accomplishment. "Not one faileth." Heaven and earth may pass away, but His word shall not pass away. III. THE COVENANT OF GRACE ILLUSTRATES IT. In this the covenant maile with Abraham found its consummation (Gen. xxii. 18). David died in the calm, glad faith of it. "Yet bath He made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure" &c. (2 Sam. xxiii. 5). Having its birth in the depths of a past eternity, being no mere "after thought," it was manifested "in the fulness of time• in Him "in whom all the prnmises of God are yea and amen." His blood is the seal of the everlasting covenant. In Him God " performed the mercy promised to the fathers," and" the word that He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets since the world began." And as all foregoing ages foreshadowed it, so ,lo the after ages give ever accumulating witness to its truth and certainty. Every earnest Christia.n life-every reward of obedient faith, every answerecl prayer, every new victory ornr death-confirms it. Our fathers trusted in it and were not put to shame. Tliey passed peacefully away with its language on their lips, and the hope of immortality it enkiudled in their hearts. We ourselves are learning more and more daily how worthy it is of our trust. And we know that when the tale of our chaugeful life is told, and we also shall have passed away, our children will enter into the inheritance of blessing with the "long interest" of added years: " heirs together with us of the grace•· it reveals. "The words of God's extensive love From a.ge to age endure ; The angel of the covenant proves And seals the blessing sure." "All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The gruss withereth, a.nil the flower thereof falleth away; but the word of the Lord enilureth for ever. Aud this is the word which by the gospel is preachecl unto yon" (1 Peter i. 24, 25).-W. Vers. 43-45.-" The Lo1·d is not a man that He should lie, or the Son of Man that He should repent," His promises are " yea and amen." This is the great 014 'I'H'.E BOOK OF .TOSltU A. tcH, XXII, 1-94, trnth brought home to us by the beautiful couclusion of the partition of the land of Cannan. "The Lord ga'l'e to Israel all the laml which He eware to give unto their fatlwrs. There foiled not ought of any good thing which the Lord lmdspoken unto the house of Israel : all came to .pass" (vers. 43, 45). Heaveu n,nd ea,rth nmy pnss nwn~·, but the word of the Lord must stand. (1) Hi8 w01·d cannot return to Hiin vnid; foi· ;t ;8 nlways in8tinct with vital powe1·. " Iu the beginning wn,s tho "-ord; ann the Worn was with God; and the Worn was Gon." God spoke, am\ n, world sprang int-0 beiug. Every word of prophecy has been fulfilled in the history of om· ra<>e. His promises in like manner can never be empty wonls-they must have an answering reality. (2) He is the God nf fruth, ever faithful to Himself. (3) He is the God of love, and His love cannot belie itself. (4) He is the God of eternal ages. To Him there is no interval between the promise and its fulfilment; it is to our npprehension only that the promise tnrries. The ·new Israel may say, like Isrnel of old, "Not one good word has failed of all that He has spoken." The cownant of grace is a new land of promise. In it the Church has found a settled abiding pln<>e : it has overcome its adversaries and shall go on conquering n.nd to conquer. So also shall it be with the third great land of promise, the hea'l'enly Cannan. Upon this inheritauce shall the redeemed at last enter singing, with a new meaning, this old song of triumph : " The Lord bath given us rest round about, according to all that He sware unto· our fathers" (ver. 44).-E. DE P.