Yer. 31.-God's presence manifested in the faithful conduct of His people. I. Goo IS PRESENT IN THE ll4IDST OF HIS FAITHFUL PEOPLE. By the nature of things, God is present everywhere (Psa. cxxxi.x. 7-10). Yet there is a more intimate and revealed presence of God which is not universal, but which is the peculiar priYilege of some, while to others it is denied. This consists in the out• flow of sympatl.Jy, the exercise of special grace, the nearness of spiritual com- munion. Two persons can be locally near, and yet in thought and sympathy very distant from one another. Spiritual presence is conditioned not by space but by sympathy. When we are out of sympathy with God He is far from us. When we are one with Him in sympathy He is near. This is a real presence. God does not simply send blessings and breathe benedictions from a distance. He ma.k~s the bodies of His people a temple (1 Car. vi. 9), and their hearts the home of His Spit;t (John xiv. 23). II. Goo's PRESENCE IS A FACT OF GREAT INTEREST TO HIS PEOPLE. Phinehas e:s:presses satisfaction in the recognition of God's presence. (1) God's presence should be a source of blessing, since (a) He is our father, and we are ho~eless without Him; (b) He is the Almighty One, and we are full of need; (c) He i~ the light and life of all things, and without Him we are in darkness and death, like a planet without its sun. (2) God's presence is proved by experience to be a ~ource of blessing, bestowing (a) safety, (b) purity, (c) joy, (d) glory. The possessron ?f allihe treasm·es of the world without God would leave the soul poor mdeed. His presence is a pearl of great price. • III. Goo's PRESli:NCE CAN BE RECOGNISED BY THE CONDUCT OF HIS PEOPLE. (lj Gods presence is discernible. It is not for ever secret and bidden. Phinebas percei'<'es the presence of the Lord. We do not always perceive it, but there are e-ents which make it strikingly apparent. If we know how to recognise it, we need not be always asking, "Is the Lord among us or no?'' but, like Haga~ (Gen. xvi ..13) and Jacob (Gen. xxviii. 16), we shall be surprised and satisfied with the manifestation of God in our midst. (2) God's presence is mwnifested vn tho. cond,ut of His people. (a) It is not proved by our opinions: we may have verf (lll. XXII, 1-84.] THE UOOK OF .JOSHUA. 333
correct _icleas about the n~Lure ancl character of Goel while we are far from Him. (b) H 1s ?~t macle. mamfest by our feelings: emotiom are deceptive, and very strong relig10us feelings may be found in a very godleRs life. (c) It is seen in concluct. IV. 'l'IIE COIWU?T WIIICII PROVES THE PRESENCE OF Goo 18 FA!Tf!FULNE88 JN Hrs SERVImi. P½mehas percei_ves "that the Lord is among us, hecause ye have not committed tins trespass agamst the Lord." Faithfulness in the service of God and _11, consequent spirit. of brotherly kindness and sympathy, such as that no.,.; m11,nifested 11,mo1;1g the tnbes _of Israel, are good signs of the presence of God in a Church. (1) :S:1s presence 1s _the cau~e of ficlelity. Our fidelity reveals His p~esence! but 1t does not sec_ure it_. He 1s )?resent first, and inspires devotion, and bmds His people together m uruted affect10n through their common devotion to Him. (2) He must need depart from His people when they become unfaithful. No past enjoyment of God will secw·e His abiding preseHce. If God depart, though wealth and ease and numbers testify to apparent prosperity, we may exclaim, "Ichabod-the glory has cleparted.''-W. F. A.
Vers. 30, 31.-A mistake and its rectification. When Joshua dismissed the traus-J ordanic tribes to their homes he pronounced his benediction upon them, in grateful acknowledgment of the services they had rendered to their brethren of the other tribes, and with full confidence in their loyalty to the God of Israel. It soon seemed, however, as if this confidence had been misplaced. Their builcling of a "great altar over against the Land of Canaan " had a suspicious appearance. What could it be intended for but as a rival to the altar at Shiloh, and therefore a wicked violation of the Divine co=and in reference to the one chosen place of sacrifice? (Levit. xvii. 8, 9; Deut. xii.). The issue proved this suspicion to be groundless ; and what seemed likely at first to lead to a serious breach in the religious unity of the nation ended in a signal manifestation of the presence of the "one Lord" in the midst of it (ver. 31). We see here- I. A NOBLE EXAMPLE OF ZEAL FOR GOD AND FOR THE PURITY OF HIS WORSHIP. It was a true instinct that warned the leaders of the ten tribes of the danger of a rival altar on the othe1· side of the Jordan. Tliey saw how easily the river might become a cause of moral and spiritual separation, the geographical boundary a dividing line of conflicting sympathies and interests. A flame· of holy indignation was kindled within them at the thought of the glory of Israel being thus turned to shame. Their zeal is shown (1) in their instant resolution forcibly to arrest the evil at its very beginning (ver. 12). Though they had so lately ceased from war, they' will at once ta.ke up arms again, even against their brethren acd compatriots, . rather than suffer this wickedness to be clone. (2) In the wise measures they adopt. They will hear ancl judge before they strike, and the dignity of the appointed court of inquiry (Phinehas and a representative prince from each of the tribes) indicates their sense of the solemnity of the crisis. (3) In the earnestness of their remon- strance. Their words are somewhat ove1·strained (ver. 16). The slightest departure from the appointed order is to them an act of guilty rebellion. (4) In the sense they have of the latent propensities of the people to idolatry, in spite of all the sacl lessons of the past (ver. 17). (5) In their readiness to suffer loss themselves by the narrowing of their own inheritance rather than this supposed evil shoultl be done. All of which is greatly to their honour, inasmuch as it sho"'.s how t.rue they_ were to their allegiance to the Goel of Israel, and how earnest thell' purpose to mam t,11n the religious unity of the commonwealth. . II. A SUCCESSFUL ACT OF SELF-VINDICATION. If the suspected tribes were rnsh in raising the altar without having first consulted the heads of the nation, and especially the high priest from whom the will of God. was to be known, antl without duly considering the aspect it might bear to thell' b_rethren on the other side of the river, yet they .themselves were also wronged by this too ha_sty JUdgment on the meaning and motive of their dee_d: _The !1onesty of then· ptu·pose 1s abundantly made manifest. Note (1) the spmt m. w!:nch they receffe the remon· Rtmnre. ThiA at once bespeakB the purity of thell' mtent. 1t 1s a senons ehargo 334 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. [cu. XXIII. 1-10.