no.tions from before you; but they sho.11 be snares o.nd traps unto you and scourcres in your sides, a.nil thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this go~d land which the Lord your God hath given you" (vers. 12, 13). The punishment threatened has this notable characteristic-that it is to come by means of those very nations with whom Israel shall have entered into unholy alliance. These shall be made, in the lmnd ?f God, the _scourge and the goad to His rebellions people, just as Israel bad been, rn_ the first !nste.nce, the sword of Divine justice to visit the iniqnity of the Canae.mtes. So 1s fulfilled the gree.t more.l le.w that sin brings its own punishment. " Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." Every time the.t Israel entered into compact with the bee.then nations it fell under the hand of the heathen. So whenever the Chmch e.llies itself with the world, the world entangles, corrupts, and destroys its life, though, it me.y be, stealthily and without violence. " Strangers he.ve devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not" (Hosea vii. 9). The worldli- ness of the Church silently saps its spiritual power.-E. DE P. Ver. 15.-Threats as true as promises. There are those who deny God's threats of punishment the so.me validity which they ascribe to His promises of blessing. J oshue. here e.scribes eque.l certe.inty to both. I. Goo MUST BE TRUE TO Hrs THREATS. God desires to bless, and He can only punish reluctantly, since His nature is love. Hence it might appear that He would not be so true to His three.ta e.s to His promises. But, on the other hand, note:- (1) To threaten without intending to execute would be deceitful; God is true and must be faithful to His word. (2) It would be cruel; a, merciful God would not terrify us with groundless e.larms. (3) It would be ineffectual; the emptiness of the threat would be ultime.tely discovered, and then the delusion would cease to be a terror and become e. mockery. (4) Punishment is ordained not to satisfy vengeance, but to este.blish justice e.nd to vindicate and restore righteousness. It is a -good sent for good ends, e.nd to refrain from it would be a mark of weakness, not of mercy. II. THE APPARENT UNCERTAINTY OF Goo's THREATS ADMITS OF EXl'LA.'iATION. (1) They are conditional. The punishment does not always come because the conditions of the threat are altered. Repentance and faith in Christ are conditions on which God exercises mercy e.nd refrains from executing His threat. The turning from evil is declared to be e.n alteration of circumstances which makes the threat no longer to apply (Ezek. xxxiii. 19). The force of gravitation is not suspended when we arrest the motion of e. falling body. The law is not frustrated by the counter- action of the gospel. (2) Threats are often misunderstood. The Church has added monstrous physical horrors to the threats of the Bible, age.inst which men revolt. It is not our interpretation of the threat, but God's meaning, that will be fulfilled. (3) Threats apply to the future ; because God is long-suffering, men refuse to believe that He is just. The delay of punishment is no ground for dis- believing in the reality of it. (4) Threats are unpleasant; many persons will not entertain unpleasant idee.s. Yet a fact is not the less true because it cloes not please us. III. THE APPLICATION OF Goo's THREATS SHOULD BE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED. (1) It is dangerous to neglect them. We do not improve oru· health by ignoring the opinion of a physicie.n simply bece.use this is unfavourable. If the Divine warnings are true, they are ten-ibly true, and no soul should be at rest till it has found safety in Christ. (2) It is foolish to despair. Why e.re these threats recorded in the Bible'? Surely not simply to torture us I If they were inevitable it would be most merciful to conceal our doom from us till the last moment. But they e.re warnings. The very fact the.t they are recorded implies that the evil they describe may be avoided. The threat is true, but it is conditional. Therefore let us flee the danger by escaping !o the refuge whioh God has provided (Rom. viii. 1).-W. F. A.
Ver. 24.-The old man eloquent. With much in the detail of these chapters which is of interest the final farewell of Joshua is worthy of our study in its entirety. The dignity e.nd se'renity of saintly ripeness, the vigour of his exhortations, and the 'I'HE BOOK OF .TOSHUA. [en. xxnr. 1-lG.