The Pulpit Commentary — Joshua — Section 394

must n<?eds be that when we are brought into personal contact with Him, made personally the recipients of His bounty, then we understand Him better, appreciate more the w1n111th of he1tvenly rays than when we hear the testimony of others, or behold the sunlight flashing upon them from the throne of God. But what shall we say of God. revealed to us in Jesus Christ as the Father of our spirits, the for• gi,·ing God, who by His spirit bath quickened us from the death of sin, and is fitting us for the enjoyment of His immediate presence ? And when we call to mind His providentia.l care exercised over us, and the seasons in which He pre- vented the billows from overwhelming us in despair, a.nd the fires of temptation from scorching us, what joy must it be to comply with the_ precepts of the text, to "arise and seek Him whom the soul loveth." (3) Watchfulness against sin. The " expulsive power of a new affection '' is a two-edged sword that fights both for good and for evil. The tendency of sin is to blind the judgment, pei·vert the imagination. and to dea.den spiritual emotion. If it were one and uniform we should know how to a_ttack it, but it is insidious and wraps itself in disguises, and encroaches on e,ery side, hence we must be ready to act on the defensive. Joshua cautioned the Israelites against mingling with the degraded inhabitants of the land (vers. 12, 13). This is an entanglement to many a. youthful Christian. First, on speaking terms, then follows familiarity, and lastly, participation in the very prac- tices condemned. Not all at once did he rush into flagrant transgression, but gradually walked into the snare, nntil the love of God was stifled in his breast. Bodily sight depends on the state of the health, and the eye of the soul is dimmed through the indulgence of :fleshly lusts. A traitor is admitted into the camp, and the true friend is ousted from his seat of honoUI. Guard, then, against sin; say not, " it is a little one ; " cherish not -a viper in yoUI bosom, it will mar your peace, pollute yoUI dwelling, and leave a. sting which no palliative shall be able to soothe. Bnt if you a.re now repenting of sin, be a.ssUied of God's willingness to pardon, "belieYe in Him that raised up Jesus from the dead; who was delivered for our offences and was raised a.gain for OUI justification." Then say," I love Him because He first loved me.''-A. J osbua before his death twice calls together the people of Israel to Uige on them one exhortation of snpreme importance. On the first occasion he reminds Israel of its great mission, which is to be a. holy nation, the priesthood of the Lord for all mankind, separated by this its high calling from all association with the pagan nations a.round, and bound to abstain from all contact with idolatry. Let us notice the command and its sanction. (1) "The Lord bath driven out from before you great nations and strong ; no man bath been able to stand before you unto this day." "Take good heed, therefore, unto yoUiselves that ye love the Lord your God; lest ye in any wise go back and clea,e unto the remnant of these nations that remain among you and make marriages with them (vers. 9-12). Israel is thoroughly to understand that. it has not been put in possession of the land of Canaan, to lead the same unholy life as those whom it had expelled. There is a. priesthood to be exercised. This priesthood implies separation from the ungodly and from idolators. This separation, however, is to be for_a time only, for all the =tions of the earth are finally to be blessed in the seed of Abraham (Gen. xii. 3). Israel is separated from the rest of mankind for the good of the whole. This separation is not merely external, it is moral, for it is only realised by a life of holiness. Such is still the high calling of the people of God. They are to be priests of the most High, separated from the world by the elevation of their life and experience, enn more than by privilege of position. The elect are a. priesthood. Their election does not terminate in their own advantage, but seeks through them the good of the whole race, for which they are to prepare the way of salvation. Under the new dispensation, the p~ople of God are no longer divided ~y material boundaries from the world. There 1s, therefore, all the greater necessity that the line of spiritual separation be bri_ght, strong, an~ distinct. (2) '.['he command· ment is enforced by a solemn sanction. "If ye go m unto these nations and they to you, know for a certainty th&t the Lord yoUI God will no more drive out any of these on. XXIII. 1-16.] THE BOOI{ OF JOSHUA 34;;