~hat is bronght again~t them, but they meet it ~vith no angry recrimination. There 1s sm·pnse, but notlnng hke resentment. Tins, perhaps, not only quenche(l the RIT(rn· of rebnkc. but turned it back upon the source from whence it came. " Innocence cloth make false accusation blush,'' and the guilelessness of their bearing must have brought R feeling of shame to their accusers, for having so hastily condemned them. In nothing is the moral quality of a man indicated llloro than in the wu~- in which he receiYes an lllllllerited rebuke. (2) Their desire to upprow t,hemselves to their brethren, as well as to Hilll who knew what was in their hearts. •· The Lord God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know'' (Yer. 221. No right-feeling man will be indifferent to the good opinion of his follow men. (3) Their thorough religious sympathy with the leaders of the people. The building of the altar. instead of being meant as an act of revolt, was done "for.fea'I' of this ·1'cry thing." We are reminded not only how possible it is to mistake men's moti,·es. but how the sl1llle motive may prompt to actions that seem to be at variance. Forma.J differences and separations in the Church are not necessarily selnsm. They ma~· be the outgrowth of that very loyalty to truth and conscience which is one of the main elements of its living unity. The principle that binds men in allegiance to Christ may be at the root of much that seems to separate them from one another. A truly upright spirit rejoices in spiritual uprightness that may a,smue forms widely different from its own ; and that is the most Ch'l'istian con• science that most respects the consciences of others. (4) Their prudent regard to the possibilities of the future. Not as a substitute for the altar at Shiloh, but as the shadow and memorial of it, did they rear this altar; that their children, looking upon it, might never fail to claim their part and lot in the fellowship of Israel. The loyalty of a godly soul will always manifest itself in the desire and practical endeavour to hand down its own inheritance of blessing unimpaired to coming generations. Ill. A. GREAT CALAMITY AVERTED BY A POLICY OF MUTUAL FORBEARANCE. What might haYe been a disastrous feud was 3.1:Tested at the beginning by a few frank outspoken wor~. Honesty of purpose on the one side detected and appreciated honesty of purpose on the other. The" soft answer turned away wrath." "Charity coYered the multitude of sins." And thus the very altar that seemed likely to break the bond of the nation's unity, rather became a witness to it and a means of strengthening it. So may it eYer be. The true cure for the discords of social life and of Church life lies in fidelity to conscience, tempered by the forbearance of loYe. " If thy brother trespass against thee, go and tell hilll his fault between him and thee alone; if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother " (Matt. xni.i. 15). "Let us not therefore judge one another any more; but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way" <r.om. xiv. 13).-W.
EXPOSITION.
CHAPTER XXIll. 1-16. men 1n Israel to his home at Tinmath-Serah, where apparently he had led a retired and JOSHUA'S BOLEIDl CB.illGE. - Ver. 1. - peaceful life, only coming forward to direct Waxed old a.nd Btricken 111 age. Literally, the affairs of the nation when necessity re- was old, advanced in d,ays (see eh. xiii. 1). quired. His address is simple and practical. But this refers to a more advanced age still, He reminds them that they will soou lose when the patriarch felt his powers failing the benefit of his experience and authority, him, and desired, as far as his influence and of the work that he had done, under went, to preserve the Israelites in the path God's direction, in settling them in the in which they had walked since their en- land. Then he proceeds to urge strict obe- trance into Can88.D. Calvin has some good dieuce to the law of God, reminding them remarks on the " pious solicitude " shown that victory is assured to them, if they will by the aged warrior for those whom he had but be true to themselves and their calling ed 1n time of war and guided in time of ae the servants of God, but that as certaiuly _,ce.ce. He seems to have sent for the chief as they neglect to do so, wrath and mieery c:1. xxm. I-rn.] THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 335