B V 
 
 A4K3 NOTES 
 
 TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS, 
 
 TO ACCOMPANY THS 
 
 ITEIATI01L SMDAY- SCHOOL LESSONS, 
 
 FOE THE FIRST AND SECOND QUARTERS OF 1875. 
 
 ALEXANDER McKENZIE, 
 
 Faros of tbx jftasx Ctubcti. Cambridge, Mass., and Authob or the National 
 
 S&UJES OF QUK^TIOKSc 
 
 i 
 
 BOSTON : 
 
 FOR SALE BY THS 
 
 CONGREGATIONAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY; 
 
 A. F GRAVES, HENRY A. YOUNG & CO. 
 BANY: S. R. GRAY. CHICAGO: JOHN FAIRBANKS & CO. 
 PHILADELPHIA: J. C. GARRIGUES & CO. 
 
 AND THE TRADE GENERALLY. 
 
 1875. 
 

pr 
 
 • <<cA«/i. -Km V 
 
 '-OK^ M 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
 J 
 
NOTES 
 
 TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS, 
 
 TO ACCOMPANY THE 
 
 FOR THE FIRST AND SECOND QUARTERS OF 1875. 
 
 BY 
 
 ALEXANDER McKENZIE, 
 
 Pastor of the First Church, Cambridge, Mass., and Author of the National 
 Series of Questions. 
 
 BOSTON : 
 
 FOR SALE BY THE 
 
 CONGREGATIONAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY; 
 
 A. F. GRAVES, HENRY A. YOUNG & CO. 
 
 ALBANY: S. R. GRAY. CHICAGO: JOHN FAIRBANKS & CO. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: J. C. GARRIGUES & CO. 
 
 AND THE TRADE GENERALLY. 
 
 1874. 
 
Library 
 
 i KESS 
 
 \\ ^aHlNGTON 
 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by 
 
 The Congregational Publishing Society, 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
 Steeeotyped by C. J. Peteks & Son, 
 73 Federal St., Boston. 
 
PKEFACE. 
 
 These notes have been prepared for the use of teachers and 
 scholars in connection with the International Lessons for the first 
 half of 1875. It has been the aim of the author to embody the 
 needful information in a concise, direct, and convenient form. 
 
 While the notes are designed to be used with the Question 
 Books of the author, it is thought they will be of service to those 
 who study the lessons in any other way. 
 
 Cambridge, 1874. 
 
NOTES FOE TEACHEES AM) SCHOLARS. 
 
 FIRST QUARTER OP 1875. 
 
 JOSHUA. 
 
 Lesson I. — Joshua encouraged. — Chap. i. 1-9. 
 
 The author of the Book of Joshua is not known. The Jewish and 
 early Christian writers assign the authorship to the man whose name 
 the book bears. There is more reason for adhering to this opinion 
 than for attributing the book to any other man who has been sug- 
 gested as the possible writer. The account of the death and burial 
 of Joshua could easily have been added by another person, as was 
 done with regard to Moses at the close of the Pentateuch. The book 
 appears to have been written by one who was an eye-witness of the 
 events which are described. The right of the book to a place in the 
 Old Testament canon has never been denied. This book takes up 
 the history of the children of Israel at the point where it was left at 
 the close of Deuteronomy. Moses was dead ; and his successor was 
 to complete the work he had begun and so signally carried forward. 
 The events occupy a period of about twenty-five years ; extending, 
 according to the usual chronology, from B. C. 1451 to B. C. 1426. 
 The book may be naturally divided into three portions: — 
 
 1. The conquest of the land of Canaan, the land of promise. 2. Tlie 
 division of the land among the tribes. 3. The parting exhortation 
 of Joshua to the people, the renewal of the covenant between them 
 and God, and the death of the leader. 
 
 "Now, after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that 
 the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses* minister, saying." — Josh. i. 1. 
 
 1. The opening words of this verse connect the book with that 
 Which has gone before. From the unknown grave of Moses in the 
 1* 5 
 
6 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 land of Moab, the narration moves on. " The servant of the Lord " 
 is the title by which Moses was described at his death (Deut. 
 xxxiv. 5). In Heb. iii. 5, we read, " Moses verily was faithful in all his 
 house as a servant.'' The name is one of honor; and it peculiarly 
 belongs to him who had done so many works which could be done 
 only by one directed by the wisdom of God, and sustained by his 
 might. The Lord spoke through him, and worked through him. 
 The Lord did not need him; but it was in accordance with his 
 method to use him. He could have lengthened his life ; but, because 
 of his fault, it was not to be permitted to him to enter the desired 
 land. Not then, but long afterwards, when Christ had come, he 
 descended to Palestine, was seen of men, and saw the well-peopled 
 country lying beneath him. The law could not bring the lawgiver 
 into Canaan. Grace could do this ; and the grace came by Jesus 
 Christ. For Christ's sake the sins of Moses were forgiven him, and 
 an entrance ministered unto him into the everlasting kingdom, — an 
 entrance, also, into the earthly Canaan, which so long stood as the 
 image of the better country, that is, the heavenly. The Lord was 
 able to speak directly to Joshua. The way in which this was done 
 we are not told. God is spirit; Joshua was spirit. What could be 
 easier than the intercourse of the creating with the created spirit? 
 Joshua is described as " Moses' minister." His place hitherto had 
 been subordinate; indeed, taking the whole narration together, his 
 position and work are less difficult and less momentous than those of 
 Moses. The word translated "minister" could have been translated 
 "assistant." The word rendered "servant," in speaking of Moses, 
 denoted among the Hebrews a slave. The latter word implied more 
 di freedom and dignity in service. Joshua was not so fully subject 
 to Moses as Moses was to the Lord. But in Josh. xxiv. 29, we have 
 Joshua also spoken of as "the servant of the Lord." We are all 
 bound to render a complete service in entire subjection to the Lord ; 
 aut his service alone is perfect freedom. 
 
 What do we know of Joshua before this, which justifies the title 
 here given him ? He was the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim : 
 tie grew up a slave in Egypt. He was about forty years old when he 
 came out of the house of bondage with his people. The great leader 
 early recognized the traits of character which afterwards made Joshua 
 famous. He appointed him to command the forces of Israel in the 
 battle with Amalek at Rephidim. The Lord pointed him out as 
 one who was to fill an important place, saying, "Write this for a 
 memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua." When 
 Moses went up Mount Sinai to receive the law, Joshua attended him 
 as far as he was permitted, and was the first to greet him upon his 
 
JOSHUA. 7 
 
 return. He was of the twelve chieftains sent before to explore the 
 land of Canaan, of which he and Caleb alone brought back an en- 
 couraging report. Their lives were spared when the others perished ; 
 and they were suffered to enter the land whose dangers had not 
 seemed too great for the favor of the Lord to remove. When Moses 
 was told that he should be gathered unto his people, he made this 
 prayer: "Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man 
 over the congregation, which may go out before them, and which 
 may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may 
 bring them in ; that the congregation of the Lord be not as sheep 
 which have no shepherd. And the Lord said unto Moses, Take thee 
 Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine 
 hand upon him. . . . And Moses did as the Lord commanded him ; 
 and he took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before 
 all the congregation. And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him 
 a charge, as the Lord commanded, by the hand of Moses." The Lord 
 spoke to Moses, " Charge Joshua, and encourage him and strengthen 
 him." 
 
 After Moses had died, we have this record, " And Joshua the son 
 of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom ; for Moses had laid his hands 
 upon him : and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as 
 the Lord had commanded Moses." Thus was Joshua brought forward 
 for the work which now begins. The name is interpreted as " whose 
 help is Jehovah," or, better, "God the Saviour." In its original form 
 the name was Oshea. Moses prefixed to this the name Jehovah, 
 Which indicated, perhaps, his loyalty to God, and that the spirit of 
 God was in him (Num. xiii. 16). This made the name Jehoshua, or, 
 by contraction, Joshua. The name is given in five different forms in 
 the original Scriptures, and in seven in our English version. Thus 
 we have Oshea, Hoshea, Jehoshua, Jehosuah, Joshua, Jeshua, Jesus ; 
 to which we might add Osea and Hosea, which are essentially the 
 same as the first two forms before named. Oshea means help, 
 welfare, salvation. Prefixing Jehovah would give the signification 
 already mentioned. Jesus is the Greek and New Testament form of 
 the name (Acts vii. 45; Heb. iv. 8). If we render this name "God 
 the Saviour," we see how fitting it was that it should be given to the 
 Eecleemer. "Thou shalt call his name Jesus; for he shall save his 
 people from their sins." 
 
 " Moses my servant is dead : now, therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, thou, 
 and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of 
 Israel." — Josh. i. 2. 
 
 2. Moses had been true to the trust reposed in him. lie was not 
 
8 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 with out fault ; and lie was chastened for his sin with a sore disap- 
 pointment; but he had done the work which was required of him. 
 He had confessed God when living in the palace of a heathen king, 
 and among an idolatrous people. When he was come to years, he 
 chose " rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to 
 enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of 
 Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt." By faith he led 
 God's people through their difficult march ; formed a horde of fugitives 
 escaping from bondage, into a state, with government and laws, and 
 b nought them to the border of the land given to them. As he con- 
 fessed God, so did God confess him, and called him, "Moses my ser- 
 vant." But this useful man was dead. Great as he was, he could be 
 spared. God was not dependent upon him. But the work must go 
 on. Joshua's time had come. The call here given to him was the 
 repetition of his original commission : for this purpose had he been 
 raised up and ordained. To lead the people over the Jordan, with- 
 out bridge or boats, at a time when the river was " full up to all its 
 banks," required large courage, based upon strong faith. But the 
 faith itself had a foundation in the purpose and promise of God. 
 The command was itself a promise. God would not mock Joshua 
 and Israel. If he bade them go over the river, he would give them 
 the ability to go over. There was, a] so, the distinct assertion that the 
 land beyond was given to them. What was Joshua to do but to arise 
 and go ? With the Bed Sea behind him and his people, the swollen 
 Jordan could not affright them when the voice of the Lord had given 
 the command, "Forward." 
 
 " Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto 
 you, as I said unto Moses. 
 
 i 'From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the River 
 Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going- 
 down of the sun, shall be your coast." — Josh. i. 3, 4. 
 
 3. The promise was made to Moses, as recorded in Deut. xi. 24. 
 The promise was older than this, and was made to Abram, as we read 
 in Gen. xiii. 14-17. Years had passed, the children of Abraham had 
 led an inconstant life ; but the word could not be broken. The time 
 was come for its fulfilment. 
 
 4. The wilderness here named is the desert of Arabia, which made 
 the southern limit of Palestine. The mountain-range of Lebanon 
 was at the northern extremity. It is visible from nearly every part of 
 Palestine ; and, as the people could see it from their encampment, it 
 was spoken of as " this Lebanon." The eastern and western bounda- 
 ries of the promised land were the Euphrates and the Mediterranean 
 
JOSHUA, 9 
 
 Sea. The Hittites were, strictly speaking, the people of Northern 
 Canaan and Phoenicia ; bnt the name seems here to be applied to all 
 the inhabitants of the land. For the promise, read Deut. xi. 24; 
 Gen. xv. 18. 
 
 " There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life : 
 as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake 
 thee." — Josh. i. 5. 
 
 5. The land thus given to the children of Israel was a goodly land, 
 as the spies had reported (see 'Num.. xiii. 23, 24, xiv. 7, 8) ; but it 
 was already in possession of those who would make a stout resistance 
 to those who should attempt to drive them out. " Palestine was at 
 this time governed by a multitude of petty independent kings. . . . 
 The agricultural had encroached on the pastoral life ; the vine and 
 olive had been extensively cultivated; strong walled cities, fenced 
 cities, had arisen on the heights and in the plains ; the Canaanites, 
 manifestly a warlike people, had encountered, defended themselves 
 against, or been compelled to subjection by, the Egyptian conquer- 
 ors. " But, formidable as were the foes who were in waiting for 
 Israel, they should not be able to stand before the people of the Lord. 
 The protection and success given to Moses should be continued to 
 Joshua. The Canaanites served strange gods: the Israelites served 
 God. Herein was Israel's safety. 
 
 " Be strong and of a good courage ; for unto this people shalt thou divide for an 
 inheritance the land which I swear unto their fathers to give them." — Josh. i. 6. 
 
 6. The preceding verse naturally leads to this : if God will prosper, 
 Joshua may well have good courage. Recall his own words in Num. 
 xiv. 8. The promise that the land should be given to the children of 
 Israel is here renewed. There is a luxury of promise. God might 
 have ordered the people forward without telling them what he would 
 do. He could have given as liberally in that way ; but he bestowed 
 the anticipation of the blessing, that it might be easy for his people to 
 dare and do. 
 
 Joshua himself was to have the honor of dividing the land. Moses 
 left the completion of his work to another. Joshua should see the 
 end of his work. The people might be froward ; but the land which 
 God swear unto their fathers should be given into their possession. 
 The extent and the worth of it would depend much upon them- 
 selves ; but the land should be theirs. 
 
 " Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe tz do 
 according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded thee : turn not from 
 it to the right hand, or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou 
 goest, 
 
10 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 " This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt med- 
 itate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that 
 Is written therein : for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou 
 6halt have good success." — Josh. i. 7, 8. 
 
 7. To keep the commandments of God, to follow his directions 
 closely with regard to the land and its inhabitants, would require 
 firmness and courage. To put the Canaanites to slaughter, and take 
 their land as the Lord commanded, would need a rigid adherence to 
 the word of the Lord. The temptation to leniency towards those 
 whom God had appointed to destruction must be resisted. Read how 
 Saul was rejected, because he swerved from the commandment in a 
 ease where his amendment seemed to him to have excuse. We must 
 not seek to change what God decrees. We cannot improve it : it were 
 wrong to injure it. If Joshua was obedient, he would act wisely, and 
 have success. 
 
 8. But it was not the law for this special case which Joshua was to 
 observe, but the whole law of the Lord as given by Moses. It was 
 the constitution of the nation, the charter of their liberties, the 
 statutes of the great King. The leader must have it in his mouth 
 when he spoke : he must think upon it day and night, — in his work, 
 in all his waking-hours. It should form the staple of his purposes and 
 deeds. The second verse of the first Psalm should be graven into his 
 experience. Knowing the law, thinking carefully upon it, he would 
 be able to obey it intelligently. Thus would he keep himself in the 
 line of God's promises, which would insure his prosperity. 
 
 "Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not 
 afraid, neither be thou dismayed : for the Lord thy God is with thee whitherso- 
 ever thou goest." — Josh. i. 9. 
 
 9. Acting as the servant of God, his way was plain and sure. Let 
 him not be dismayed by the river, or the hostile tribes beyond. He 
 served the strongest. The word could not be broken. The ancient 
 promise, many times renewed, hastened to its fulfilment. This was 
 the seal of it, the watchword for the advancing people: " The Lord 
 thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." 
 
 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 
 
 1. Without reading further, our confidence in Joshua makes us 
 sure that he went forward ; and our confidence in God makes us cer - 
 tain that the promised success was found. We honor Joshua by 
 trusting him. We honor God by trusting him, as we have constant 
 call to do. 
 
JOSHUA. 11 
 
 2. The promises of God to us are very great. He not only gives 
 the blessings, but tells us that he will give them, so that we have a 
 double joy. 
 
 3. God's promises reach beyond the Jordan, on whose "stormy 
 banks we stand.' ' Beyond the Kiver of Palestine was war; beyond 
 our Jordan, perfect peace. 
 
 4. The promises of God are interwoven with his commands: 
 "What, therefore, God hath joined together, let not man put asun- 
 der." 
 
 5. There are no indispensable men. Moses may die ; but there is a 
 Joshua to take up his work. John the Baptist may fall in an untimely 
 hour ; but there are others to preach the kingdom of Christ. There is 
 no place for pride, as if the world could not spare us ; no room for 
 despair, as if the world were bereft of all the good and strong. The 
 grass withers ; the man dies : the word of the Lord endures forever. 
 
 Lesson II. — Crossing the Jordan. — Chap. iii. 14-17. 
 
 After the appointment of Joshua as the successor of Moses, he pre- 
 pared the people for the march through Jordan. He sent two spies 
 to "view the land, even Jericho." They went to the house of a 
 woman named Eahab, who seems to have kept a lodging-house for 
 travellers. She was a young woman, unmarried, with a father and 
 mother and brothers and sisters in the city, where she had a house of 
 her own. It would seem, also, that she was employed in making 
 linen, and in dyeing ; for she had stalks of flax on the roof of her house, 
 and a scarlet line with a stock of cord. " Her house was upon the 
 town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall." Probably it was near the 
 town gate. She was so situated, that she would hear all the news ; 
 and she had learned of the coming of the Israelites and of the events 
 of their journey. She had come in this way to have faith in the God 
 of Israel, and to believe that the purposes of his people would be 
 accomplished. The spies came within her friendly doors, where she 
 concealed them when they were sought. When the pursuers were 
 gone, she let them down by a cord through the window ; and they fled 
 to the mountain, till it was safe for them to return to Joshua. She 
 exacted of them a promise, that, when the advancing host should enter 
 the city, they should show kindness unto her father's house. They 
 gave her their oath that it should be so, and directed her to mark her 
 house by binding a line of scarlet thread in the window. Kead Heb. 
 xi. 31. 
 
12 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 The spies returned with a most encouraging account ; and Joshua 
 moved the people to the Jordan, and the officers gave the instructions 
 for the passage. Joshua added his directions to the people and the 
 priests ; and the Lord again gave him a promise and a command ; and 
 Joshua told to the people the words of the Lord their God. 
 
 " And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass 
 over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people." 
 Josh. iii. 14. 
 
 14. At length all was ready for the advance. The people came out 
 of their tents for a march, which they might well regard as visionary 
 or impracticable, but for the experience of their fathers at the Red 
 Sea, and the miracles of preservation and deliverance which had 
 marked the exodus and the subsequent progress ; and especially but 
 for the distinct command and promise in whose strength their divinely- 
 appointed leader conducted them forward. When the soles of the feet 
 of the priests who bore the ark rested in the waters of the Jordan, 
 the waters were to give way before them, and let the people through. 
 Such was the promise. It was trustworthy ; for it was spoken by " the 
 Lord, the Lord of all the earth." 
 
 In this confidence the priests took up the ark. The ark of the cove- 
 nant belonged in the tabernacle. We have an account of it in Exod. 
 xxv. It seems to have been an oblong chest of shittim or acacia wood, 
 two cubits and a half in length, and one cubit and a half in width. A 
 cubit was the distance from the elbow to the end of the middle finger. 
 It cannot be said precisely how long this would be in our measures ; 
 but it would be somewhere from seventeen to twenty-two inches. 
 The wood was overlaid with gold, and on the upper side was the 
 mercy-seat, on which rested the cherubim. There was a ring of gold 
 near each corner, in which staves of shittim-wood, adorned with gold, 
 were always kept. To the Levites of the house of Kohath was 
 assigned the duty of bearing the ark on a march. In this sacred 
 chest were the stone tables of the law and covenant of God, which 
 gave it its name, and a golden pot of manna, and Aaron's rod that 
 budded. The history of the ark, and its symbolical meaning, are of 
 great interest, but need not be told here. 
 
 The priests took up the ark of the covenant, and bore it before the 
 people. The ark thus carried by God's ministers before his people 
 was the sign of his presence as their leader. It was far in advance of 
 them, nearly a mile. As the people came down the heights towards 
 the river, they could clearly see the wonders wrought below them, 
 where the ark was resting. By special religious rites they were 
 prepared for the work of the Lord: "Sanctify yourselves; for to- 
 morrow the Lord will do wonders among you." 
 
JOSHUA. 13 
 
 11 And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the 
 priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water (for Jordan over- 
 flowed all his banks all the time of harvest). " — Josh. iii. 15. 
 
 15. The Jordan is a remarkable river. The deep depression of its 
 bed has no parallel. "No other valley in the world presents such 
 extraordinary physical features ; none has been the subject of such 
 various theories as to its origin and character. " The river was some 
 three thousand feet below the mountains of Judaea. " It has three 
 distinct stages, — the first ending in the Lake of Merom, the second in 
 the Sea of Galilee, and the third in the Dead Sea." "From this, its 
 last receptacle, the Jordan emerges no more." "It plunges through 
 twenty-seven rapids, through a fall of a thousand feet, through what 
 is the lowest and final stage of its course." A course of sixty miles 
 in actual length is " increased to two hundred by the infinite multipli- 
 cation of its windings." From the swift downward rush of the 
 stream, it gets its name of the Jordan; that is, "the descender." 
 "The Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest." 
 This overflow is mentioned also in 1 Chron. xii. 15, when the sons of 
 Gad went over the stream in the first month. There is an allusion to 
 the fact in Ecclus. xxiv. 26, where it is said that the Lord maketh the 
 understanding to abound " as Jordan in the time of the harvest." 
 This time would correspond to our April or May. Stanley says, "It 
 is probable that the utmost that can be here implied is the rise of 
 the river to the top of the lowest of its terraces ; that, namely, which 
 is occupied by the jungle. . . . That there was such an increase 
 receives a slight confirmation in the fact that the remains of an 
 ancient dike have been observed at the issue of the river from the 
 southern end of the Sea of Tiberias." In its usual state, this was 
 larger than any other river which the Israelites had seen since they 
 left the Nile. In its swollen state, it rolled as a formidable barrier 
 between them and the land they sought : the land they would not 
 have sought, could not have acquired, had it not been the land of 
 promise. 
 
 The exact spot at which they came to the river cannot be de- 
 termined. The feet of the priests were dipped in the brim of the water, 
 and the ark was above the swift current, when the power of the Lord 
 was displayed, and the promise given to the people before they set 
 out was signally fulfilled. 
 
 " That the waters which came down from above, stood and rose np upon an 
 neap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan ; and those that came 
 down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut olf : and 
 the people passed over right against Jericho." — Josh. iii. 16. 
 
 16. The city Adam, that is beside Zaretan, is not elsewhere men- 
 
 2 
 
14 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 tioned. It was perhaps thirty miles above the place of encampment. 
 There the waters of the Jordan, which came down from the Sea of 
 Galilee, rose up in a heap, instead of flowing on to the Dead Sea. As 
 the supply was thus cut off, the bed of the river soon became dry, 
 from north to south, as far as the eye could reach. The people 
 hasted, and passed over opposite Jericho. 
 
 "And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on 
 diy ground in the midst of Jordan ; and all the Israelites passed over on dry 
 ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan." — Josh. iii. 17. 
 
 • 17. The priests stood with the ark on dry ground, where just 
 before the river had been rushing past them. They stood firm, with 
 their feet and their hearts established. The people passed over, 
 until all " were passed clean over Jordan." The word of the Lord 
 had been fulfilled. The end was not yet ; many difficulties and perils 
 were awaiting them : but they had learned the might and good-will 
 of him who had called them from Egypt, in whom was their trust. 
 
 This was a marked miracle. It was an act no greater than was 
 seen every day. That there should be a Jordan, that its streams 
 should be continually replenished from the clouds, that its waters 
 should run from sea to sea, — these things were as great, as far 
 beyond the power of man, as the piling of the waters in a heap beside 
 Zaretan. He who wrought the usual mighty works could work the 
 unusual. Divine power is not limited to prescribed methods. God 
 did not withdraw his control from the rivers when he ordained the 
 laws by which their ordinary course should be governed. He leaves 
 himself at liberty to do new things. Their strangeness should not 
 stagger us. Let him have variety, and suit the course of nature to 
 his own purposes and the needs of men. He who can create can do 
 any thing. The laws of nature declare One who is able to go beyond , 
 what we find to be laws, and display a free, sovereign will in league 
 with almighty power. In this miracle we should see him : then all 
 is plain. 
 
 PE ACTIO AX, THOUGHTS. 
 
 1. The promises of God are sure to be fulfilled. 
 
 2. We should always bear his covenant with us, and so live, that we 
 shall be in the line of his promises, and receive his covenanted 
 mercies. 
 
 3. When impassable barriers are in our way, and our duty leads 
 through them and beyond them, we are to go forward, and trust God 
 to open the way. 
 
JOSHUA. 15 
 
 4. As Joshua went through the Jordan at his inauguration as the 
 leader of Israel, so was the later Joshua, our Jesus, baptized in the 
 waters of the same river at the beginning of his ministry. Like 
 the Israelites, who followed Joshua, we ought to enter upon tie new 
 life with baptism with water, the seal of our belief in Jesus, whom we 
 follow. 
 
 Lesson III. — Memorial Stones. — Chap. iv. 4-9. 
 
 When all the people had passed over Jordan, the Lord again spoke 
 unto Joshua. In the difficult work before him, the man needed 
 divine guidance. This would surely be given to one of his waiting 
 and obedient spirit. Moreover, this was the Lord's work. He had 
 made man. He made the covenant with Abram, for himself, and his 
 seed after him, in their generations. He led Israel out of Egypt with 
 a strong hand. He gave the law to Moses, and statutes to Israel. He 
 called Joshua to the command of the people whom he had chosen, 
 through whom he was to make himself known to the world, by 
 whom he was to save the world, of whom, according to the flesh, 
 Christ was to come. 
 
 It was natural, therefore, that, having brought the people thus far, 
 he should continue to direct them, asserting his authority over them, 
 carrying out his own counsels. 
 
 The Lord directed that twelve men should be chosen, one man 
 from each tribe. This had been commanded before, as we read in 
 chap. iii. 12. When the command was repeated here, that which 
 these men were to do was made known. 
 
 " Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had prepared of the children 
 of Israel, out of every tribe a man." — Josh. iv. 4. 
 
 4. These men had been chosen after the direction had first been 
 given. Probably each tribe chose the man who was to represent it ; 
 and the choice was approved by Joshua. The command was given 
 in the plural. These men were prepared, and, it seems, remained 
 with Joshua on the eastern bank of the river, while the people 
 passed over. They waited to know what would be required of 
 them. 
 
 "And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God 
 into the midst of Jordan, and take you up, every man of you, a stone upon 
 his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel." 
 -— Josh. iv. 5. 
 
 5. They were to pass into the river, and each one to take upon his 
 shoulder as large a stone as he could carry, lifting it " out of the place 
 
16 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 where the priests' feet stood firm." These twelve stones the men 
 were to bear on before the ark to the next place of encampment, 
 " the lodging-place where ye shall lodge this night." 
 
 This was a time when Joshna and the people were very busy, and 
 probably excited by the eventful scenes through which they were 
 passing. But they were to go with deliberation, and with piety also. 
 When the Lord delayed them, they were to wait cheerfully. Work 
 which seemed to have no practical value was to be done, if he required 
 it. It had practical value, if it only pleased him. That is an end, 
 which, beyond all others, is worth accomplishing. It is the highest aim 
 and end in life. We need not ask, "-To what purpose is this waste ?" 
 when he is anointed, or when any act is wrought for his glory. 
 
 The work which the Israelites had undertaken was not yet com- 
 pleted ; but they were to mark the progress they had already made 
 under the prospering hand of God. Much had been done. The Lord 
 had proved himself able and willing to finish what he had begun. 
 With confidence in complete success, they were to set up memorial- 
 stones. They were justified in this by their confidence in God. 
 
 When the Roman senators were shut up in their city by the hosts 
 of Hannibal, they sold and bought among themselves the very land 
 on which he had fixed his camp, so sure were they that the land 
 would come into their possession. It is said, that, in the recent war 
 with France, the German soldiers advanced with a map of Paris in 
 their knapsacks. 
 
 Joshua proposed to take possession of the land already occupied by 
 strong nations. He believed that he could do it, and was willing to 
 have the river return to its channel, and cut off his way of retreat ; 
 and he would set up stones as signs of his confidence, and tokens of 
 the sovereignty he anticipated for his people. He did not do this 
 of his own thought, to advance his own honor, but by the command 
 of God. 
 
 " That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers 
 in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones ? 
 
 " Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before 
 the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of 
 Jordan were cut off : and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children 
 of Israel forever." — Josh. iv. 6, 7. 
 
 6. Great as was this work of the Lord, it might be forgotten. A 
 visible monument, which would remind the people of these events, 
 and lead children and strangers to inquire into it, would be of service. 
 It was, above all things, important that the Israelites, generation after 
 generation, should know God and his goodness. It is implied here, 
 that the children would ask the meaning of these stones. Their 
 
JOSHUA. 17 
 
 native curiosity would thus find a worthy use : but for such desfre 
 study would come to an end. The desire to learn and know leads to 
 study and knowledge. " Those that will be wise when they are old 
 must be inquisitive when they are young. Our Lord Jesus, though 
 he had in himself the fulness of knowledge, has, by his example, 
 taught children and young people to hear and ask questions." Par- 
 ents should encourage their children in this. An idle curiosity can 
 be restrained by gratifying that which is proper and useful. A direc- 
 tion similar to this was given in relation to the passover (Exod. xii. 
 25-27). This became a part of the service. At an appointed time, 
 the son of the house was to ask his father the meaning of the feast. 
 His answer, given whenever the feast was observed, would perpetuate 
 its meaning. 
 
 7. This was an answer fitted to surprise one who heard it for the 
 first time. Who would think that the waters of the Jordan could 
 thus be cut off ? But here was the witness of it. These were not 
 precious stones, yet they were of exceeding value. They were not 
 cunningly carved ; but their presence marked the event with which 
 they were connected. They were not engraved, but, that from lying 
 in the bed of the river they had come to be piled in order high upon its 
 bank, marked the hand of the Lord, in whom the people were always 
 to trust. The memorial would be of use forever. The lesson of 
 God's goodness can never grow old. On earth and in heaven we 
 shall have need to remember it, and find our honor in regarding it. 
 The use to be made of these stones was again declared after the\ 
 were set up (verses 21-24). The erection of memorials like this has 
 been common among all people. In a rude state, they mark events 
 which it is desired to preserve in memory. They may be simple, or 
 elaborate ; but they testify to an instinct of the human heart. By the 
 risible we seek to represent the invisible, and keep it from forgetful- 
 ness. We build our monuments at the graves of our friends, and to 
 commemorate deeds of valor. These are " sermons in stones." 
 
 The choicest and dearest of all memorials is that which the Saviour 
 gave us when he fulfilled the passover, and established the Lord' 
 Supper ; breaking the bread which was his body ; saying of the cup 
 " This is my blood;" giving to his disciples that they might eat and 
 drink, and bidding them do this in remembrance of him; showing 
 forth his death till he shall come. Our purpose should be, in all 
 memorials, even that which is recorded in the twenty-fourth verse of 
 this chapter. 
 
 " And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve 
 stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the Lord spake unto Joshua, according to 
 2* 
 
18 NOTES FOR TEACHERS' AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with 
 them unto the plao* where they lodged, and laid them down there." — Josh. iv. 8. 
 
 8. The children of Israel obeyed Joshua. The twelve men carried 
 the stones : but in this they acted for the people ; and their act was 
 reckoned to the people. They crossed the river, and laid down the 
 stones at Gilgal, "in the east border of Jericho." It was about five 
 miles from the river, and two miles from Jericho, and was on rising 
 ground. " The sight of the camp was no doubt fortified by Joshua, 
 as it constituted for some time the abiding foothold in Canaan, 
 whence he sallied forth to subdue the country; and was also the place 
 of safety where the ark, and, no doubt also, the women, children, 
 cattle, and other property of the people, were left." The stones were 
 piled in such a way as to make them secure and conspicuous, — a sign 
 for Israel and Canaan. They were to be seen, it is said, for centuries 
 afterwards. At the end of the seventh century, a large church 
 covered the site, "in which the twelve stones were ranged." We 
 hear of the stones again in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. 
 Where they were is not known. " No modern traveller has succeeded 
 in eliciting the name, or in discovering a probable site." 
 
 " And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where 
 the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood ; and they are 
 there unto this day." — Josh. iv. 9. 
 
 9. Besides the memorial at G-ilgal, Joshua set up another, " in the 
 midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests w T hich 
 bare the ark of the covenant stood ; and they are there unto this 
 day." He seems to have done this of his own accord, and not by 
 divine command. The spot was not far from the eastern bank of the 
 river, at the place where the people crossed. It may not have been 
 in the ordinary channel of the stream, but on ground which was only 
 covered when the Jordan overflowed its banks, as at this time. There 
 was nothing, therefore, to prevent the stones from being seen, perhaps 
 at any time, or from remaining as a permanent memorial. This 
 narrative was written some years after the events here described ; and 
 the pile was then standing. Thus the miracle was recorded in stone 
 on both sides of the river. 
 
 "And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, 
 that the ark of the Lord passed over, and the priests, in the presence 
 of the people. . . . And it came to pass . . . when the soles of the 
 priests' feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jor- 
 dan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they 
 did before." The Canaanites were afraid when they knew what was 
 
JOSHUA. 19 
 
 done by the Lord. " Their heart melted ; neither was there spirit in 
 them any more, because of the children of Israel." 
 
 Then Joshua, by the Lord's command, circumcised "the people 
 that were born in the wilderness. " Thus they were fully made, by 
 the divine ordinance given to their fathers,' the people of the Lord. 
 
 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 
 
 1. Notice the hand of the Lord in the miracle at the river, as it 
 had been seen at the Ked Sea. Answer plainly the question in 
 Ps. cxiv. 5: "What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou 
 Jordan, that thou wast driven back? " 
 
 2. We should carefully remember the things which the Lord has 
 done for us. 
 
 3. Visible memorials of spiritual blessings are fitting. 
 
 4. We should never be too busy to recognize God's mercy, and give 
 him thanks and service. 
 
 5. Children should ask and be taught of God, and his law and 
 grace. 
 
 Lesson IV. — Preparation for Conquest. — Chap. v. 9-15. 
 
 " And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach 
 of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto 
 this day."— Josh. v. 9. 
 
 9. " The Lord said unto Joshua.' ' We are not told by what means 
 God spoke. Various methods could be employed. He could speak to 
 his servant mouth to mouth, showing his similitude, as to Moses 
 (Num. xii, 8). But, when Moses was directed to ordain Joshua for his 
 work, it was said, " He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who 
 shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the Lord " 
 (ISTum. xxvii. 21; Exod. xxviii. 30). But that was probably only for 
 cases of especial difficulty. Usually, we may suppose, God made a 
 direct communication of his will, which would be described as speak- 
 ing to a man. 
 
 We cannot be certain what is meant by " the reproach of Egypt." 
 It probably refers to the bondage and degradation suffered in Egypt, 
 an I the suspension of full nationality, which was afterwards ex- 
 pressed in the lack of circumcision through the long wandering in the 
 desert. Restoring the national rite gave the people their place again ; 
 
20 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 and, when this was restored, the bondage and wandering were both 
 past. They could not be reproached by the Egyptians as slaves, or 
 wanderers, or uncircumcised. The shame which had belonged to 
 them in their connection with Egypt would no more rest upon them. 
 They were done with Egypt; for they had reached Canaan, and stood 
 as God's people in the land he had promised them. 
 
 From this fact the place of the first encampment beyond the Jor- 
 dan was called Gilgal, which is thought to mean " rolling. " Jose- 
 phus says it means "freedom." The place which is thus connected 
 with the beginning of the Israelites in their own. land was famous in 
 fcheir late history. In the sacred groves beside it, Samuel and Saul 
 and David had solemn assemblies (1 Sam. vii. 16, x. 8, xi. 14, 15; 
 2 Sam. xix. 15, 40). 
 
 " And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on 
 the fourteenth day of the month, at even, in the plains of Jericho. 
 
 "And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the pass- 
 over, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day." — Josh. v. 10, 11. 
 
 10. They began their life in their own country by celebrating their 
 greatest religious ordinance. They gave thanks for the deliverance 
 granted to their fathers, into whose advantages they had entered. 
 Their gratitude for national mercies bestowed forty years before must 
 have been greatly quickened by more recent blessings, and especially 
 by the miracle which had carried them safely through the river, and, 
 after a long wandering, placed their feet on the land given to them, 
 where their eyes could see their ample and fruitful heritage. 
 
 They kept the passover at the regular time. How accurately their 
 arrival in Canaan was planned! (Exod. xii. 18; Num. xxviii. 16; 
 Deut. xvi. 6. ) The rite of circumcision was followed by the passo- 
 ver: so, too, after the baptism of the day of Pentecost came the 
 " breaking of bread" (Acts ii. 41, 42). 
 
 From Gilgal, " in the plains of Jericho/' the people could see the 
 towers of the city which stood at the entrance of the land they were 
 to possess. Beyond the city rose the broken range of " the white 
 limestone mountains of Judaea. " Bat, before pressing on to conquest 
 and possession, the people paused till they should be bidden forward ; 
 and they dedicated the land with the rites and services of religion. 
 
 11. On the morrow after the passover, that is, after the festival was 
 begun, "they did eat of the old corn of the land," that is, " the prod- 
 uce of the land." This is commonly understood to mean corn which 
 the inhabitants of Gilgal had left in their storehouses when they fled 
 into Jericho. " Thus the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just ; 
 
JOSHUA. 21 
 
 and little did they who laid it up think whose all those things should 
 be which they had provided." But it may be that new corn is meant, 
 the crop just coming in at this time ; for we read in the next verse, 
 that they continued to eat of this during the year, — " unleavened 
 cakes" (Lev. xxiii. 5, 6), " parched corn" (Lev. xxiii. 14). The 
 passover began on the 14th of the month Nisan, which in early times 
 coincided with April. The first sheaf of the harvest was offered 
 and waved before the Lord on the 16th : bread, parched corn, and 
 green ears, could not be eaten unil that ceremony had been performed. 
 
 " And the maima ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn 
 of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat 
 of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year." — Josh. v. 12. 
 
 12. As the people had food enough, the manna ceased. It had 
 given them sustenance through their years in the wilderness. The 
 sudden and striking manner of its appearance, and its disappearance 
 as soon as the people had entered their own country, where they were 
 to dwell, are sufficient proof of the miraculous character of the gift. 
 The natural products cf the land — natural, but not the less a divine 
 creation and bestowment — were henceforth to supply the wants of 
 the people. Miracles are for exceptional times and places. For ordi- 
 nary circumstances, the ordinary provision of Providence is sufficient. 
 Men are to till the ground, sowing and afterwards eating, and not to 
 look for miracles to release them from work. Canaan would have 
 been but a dreary land, if the need of manna was not over. 
 
 "And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes 
 and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn 
 in his hand ; and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or 
 for our adversaries? 
 
 " And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. 
 And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him. 
 What saith my Lord unto his servant? " — Josh. v. 13,- 14. 
 
 13. Joshua was " by Jericho," that is, near it, observing its fortifi- 
 cations probably, and the way of approach to it, and laying his plans 
 for its capture. He was in the way of his duty, and preparing to exe- 
 cute the will of God. If any man wills to do the will of God, he 
 shall know. God will show his duty to one who shows himself will- 
 ing to do it. Over against him he saw a man with a sword drawn 
 in his hand. Who was this man? He called himself, " Captain of 
 the host of the Lord." In chap. vi. 2 he is called " the Lord." 
 The place where he stood was "holy." He was doubtless the one 
 who appeared to Abram (Gen. xii. 7, and, again, Gen. xviii. 1, 2, 17), 
 and to Jacob (Gen. xxxii. 24, 30). We may well believe that this was 
 
22 NOTES FOR TEACHERS' AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 God manifest in the form of a man, the eternal Son of God in the 
 form of a man. There could be no more difficulty in his appearing 
 in this way than afterwards in his incarnation. For the promise of 
 spiritual guidance, see Exod. xxiii. 23 ; Josh. i. 9. His drawn sword 
 was in his hand (Num. xxii. 31). In view of the work which Joshua 
 was to do as a soldier and general, this appearance was appropriate. 
 There would be work for the sword of the Lord and of Joshua. 
 
 The question which Joshua put to the man who appeared before 
 him was of practical moment. Joshua was not afraid. He was glad 
 to receive help if this man brought it, or willing to resist him if he 
 was for the people of Jericho. It was a critical time. The great 
 leader was in a strange place. He had a great work before him. He 
 was moving carefully and confidently ; for the Lord was with him, as 
 had been proved ; and the promise was large and sure. 
 
 14. " The host of the Lord" was, it is most likely, the host of 
 heaven, the angels (see 1 Kings xxii. 19; Ps. cxlviii. 2). One name 
 given to Jehovah is " Lord of hosts " (1 Sam. i. 3), It is thought by 
 some that by " the host of the Lord" the children of Israel were 
 meant. But "the armed people of Israel are never called ' the host 
 of the Lord,' though once spoken of in Exod. xii. 41 as ' all the hosts 
 of the Lord,' " In this instance, the leadership of Israel would be 
 included in the higher office. The Lord of the angels, the angel of the 
 covenant, the Lord, the Son of God, came in the form of a man, to 
 bring the people of God into the land where they were to dwell, to 
 receive his revelation, to preserve his name and his law, to prepare 
 the way for the coming of the Lord Jesus in the fulness of time. 
 These preparatory events, looking on to that sublime consummation, 
 were sufficiently important to warrant this coming of the Lord. 
 
 What could be easier than for him to come in the form of those 
 whom he had made in his own image, into whom he had breathed 
 the breath of life ? The coming of God to man was more common in 
 ancient days than most suppose, if we are to see him in " the angel 
 of the Lord," " the angel of the covenant," called and honored as 
 "the Lord." Read Gen. xvi. 13, xlviii. 15, 16; Exod. iii. 2-15; Isa. 
 tedii. 7-9 ; Mai. iii. 1 ; Acts vii. 38. 
 
 This man was to lead the Israelites. He assumed a place above 
 Joshua. He was leader of the leader. Joshua was to obey him as 
 his superior. Yet Joshua showed no unwillingness, no jealousy. He 
 recognized the man, and fell on his face before him, and worshipped 
 him. His act, and posture of worship, do not of necessity show that 
 he gave him the reverence which is due only to God ; for before kings 
 such acts of prostration were common (Gen. xlii. 6, 1. 18; 2 Sam. 
 
JOSHUA. 23 
 
 ix. 6) ; but the whole narration intimates the divine character of the 
 man, which would make religious reverence proper on the part of 
 Joshua. If he meant to render this, and the man received it, it is clear 
 who the man was (see Acts x. 25, 26; Eev. xix. 10). Joshua waited 
 for the command of God. He knew his own commission, which had 
 been sufficiently authenticated and confirmed. He was about to pur- 
 sue the work committed to him by God; but he waited to hear 
 what his Lord would say unto him. 
 
 " And the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from 
 off thy foot ; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so." — 
 Josh. v. 15. 
 
 15. The first words of the Lord's reply attest his character. At 
 Horeb, God called to Moses out of the midst of the burning bush, 
 and said, "Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy 
 feet; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." It was 
 the presence of the God of Abraham which made it holy. What 
 less than that could make the ground holy which lay before pagan 
 Jericho? It was the sign of reverence, which was asked, and 
 promptly given. How grand Joshua appears ! And stooping down, 
 the leader of the armies of Israel, he loosed his sandal from his foot 
 at the word of the Lord. 
 
 He was encouraged in the act, we may believe, by the knowledge 
 of the great things which had come to Moses when he had obeyed the 
 same command. From that act, Moses went on to the work which 
 had fallen into the hands of Joshua. When he put the shoe from 
 his foot, he showed himself obedient to One who was over him, and 
 that he was ready to receive instructions for his work. 
 
 This was the first place in the land of Canaan which was called 
 "holy." Joshua listened reverently. The first verse of chap. vi. 
 tells us the condition of Jericho. Its gates were shut. Before a 
 people at whose approach the Jordan fled, the city which lay in their 
 path might well be afraid. They knew not what would come. They 
 let no one go out, and no one come in. They sent no proposals : they 
 made no assault. They shut the doors, and waited. This verse is 
 parenthetical : verses 2-5 are the words of the captain, or prince of 
 the host of the Lord. He assured Joshua that the city, and its king 
 and army, were given into his hand. The Lord, that is Jehovah, said 
 this. He then told Joshua in what way he should take the place. 
 Joshua summoned the priests, and gave them his instructions, and 
 also the people. Preparations for the capture of the city were at 
 ' once begun. 
 
24 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 
 
 1. God remembers his covenant. Israel had suffered long ; but the 
 promise made to Abram was sure to be fulfilled. 
 
 2. When God chastens, it is in mercy. If we obey him, our 
 reproach will be " rolled away." 
 
 3. We are never so much pressed with work that we cannot think 
 of God, and worship him. The time spent in acts of devotion is well 
 bestowed. 
 
 4. We should expect God to speak to us, and, when he speaks, listen 
 attentively and obediently. 
 
 5. Mark the promptness of true obedience, and the grandeur of the 
 promptness. " And Joshua did so." 
 
 Lessor V. — Jericho taken. — Chap. vi. 12-20. 
 Jericho was an ancient city, and one of importance in the land. 
 It was enclosed by walls ; and these were so strong and broad, that 
 Kahab had a house resting upon them. It was a rich city, as is 
 evident from the quantity of spoil found in it. It was " the capital, as 
 it may be called, of the Valley of the Jordan, and the only important 
 city in its whole course. ... It stands at the entrance of the main 
 passes from this valley into the interior of Palestine. ... It was 
 thus the key of Palestine to any invader from this quarter." The 
 first mention made of Jericho is when Joshua sent the two spies 
 from Shittim, who were received by Kahab. 
 
 "And Joshua rose early in the morning; and the priests took up the ark of 
 the Lord. 
 
 * 'And seven priests, bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark 
 of the Lord, went on continually, and blew with the trumpets : and the armed 
 men went before them ; but the rearward came after the ark of the Lord, the 
 priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets." — Josh, vi. 12, 13. 
 
 12. It is not said that Joshua gave to the priests and people the 
 assurance of success which the Lord had given to him. They had 
 reason to expect this from the favors hitherto shown them, and the 
 promise in whose strength they were advancing. 
 
 It was an eventful day upon which Joshua entered. It may have 
 been a wakeful night which preceded it. He rose early for the duties 
 of the day. 
 
 " The priests, took up the ark of the Lord." This was in accord- 
 ance with Joshua's previous directions after he had himself been 
 instructed (vers. 4, 6). 
 
JOSHUA. 25 
 
 13. This is not the way in which armies usually march to the con- 
 quest of a strong city ; but they were all acting under divine guid- 
 ance. !Sot with the silver trumpets which Moses was directed to 
 make for the calling of the assembly and for the journeying of the 
 camps did the host go up to the city, but with the trumpets used in 
 the jubilee. These were probably made of the horns of rams or oxen at 
 first, and afterwards of metal wrought into the same shape, and keep- 
 ing the old name. The trumpets used at Jericho may have been made 
 either of horns or of metal ; but the latter is more likely. The host 
 was led by the armed men, or warriors ; next came the priests with 
 their trumpets, then the ark, and last the rear-guard. Save the 
 sound of the trumpets, there was no sound to be heard. " Ye shall 
 not shout, nor make any noise with your voice ; neither shall any 
 word proceed out of your mouth" (ver. 10). It was a warlike pro- 
 cession, led by soldiers ; but it inarched in the name of the Lord. 
 The ark was at the centre. The summons and warning to the city 
 came from the priests. It was a religious march. The weapons of 
 this warfare were not chiefly carnal, but spiritual, unseen, divine, 
 yet mighty to the pulling-down of strongholds. It must have been 
 with peculiar feelings that the people of Jericho saw this strange 
 sight, such a company going day by day around the walls. Some 
 would deride ; but others would think of Jordan, and fear. 
 
 '•'And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the 
 camp : so they did six days. 
 
 " And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early, about the 
 dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times : 
 only on that day they compassed the city seven times." —Josh. vi. 14, 15. 
 
 14. The first day's march is recorded in verses 9-11 ; the second, in 
 verses 12-14. For six days this continued. The impatience of the 
 people was resisted. Joshua was willing to obey. The command 
 might seem strange, and the requisition needless : but his part was to 
 obey in spirit and letter. 
 
 15. The seventh day came at last, — the day of promise (vers. 
 4,5). The Jewish writers say that this was the sabbath. One day of 
 the seven must, of course, have been the sabbath. The usual order 
 for the sabbath was so far modified as to allow of this march of obe- 
 dience. The Lord of the sabbath could change his requirement, if 
 he would. The company rose early. Seven times were they to go 
 about the city on that day. 
 
 The sacred number seven is prominent in this narrative. There 
 were seven priests, with seven trumpets : they were to go around the 
 3 
 
26 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 city for seven days, and on the seventh day seven times. The use of 
 this number indicates the religious character of the transaction. 
 , It is not necessary to suppose, that, in these marches, the whole two 
 millions of the Israelites to.ok part. Probably the procession was 
 made up of their military forces, with the seven priests, and the ark 
 standing for the Lord. 
 
 "And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the 
 trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the Lord hath given you 
 the city. 
 
 " And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the Lord, 
 ^nly Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, 
 "because she hid the messengers that we sent. 
 
 " And ye in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make 
 ^ mrselves accursed when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp 
 **( Israel a curse, and trouble it." — Josh. vi. 16-18. 
 
 16. To go around the great city seven times, with intervals of rest, 
 ^vould require many hours; so that it would be towards evening 
 tfhen the last march was finished. 
 
 On this last march the priests blew with the trumpets ; and Joshua 
 ^aid to the people, "Shout; for the Lord hath given you the city" 
 (see vers. 2, 5). 
 
 17. Joshua declared the city accursed, or devoted (see Lev. xxvii. 
 28, 29). All in the city were to be put to death, except Rahab and 
 aer household, who were spared in return for her kindness to the 
 spies. " In other cases, the inhabitants only of the towns were slain: 
 their cattle and property became the booty of the victors. But Jeri- 
 cho, as the first Canaanitish city that was captured, was devoted by 
 Esrael as first-fruits to God, as a token that Israel received all the land 
 from him." The city, the people, the cattle, were doomed. This 
 was evidently by the divine direction (see Deut. vii. 2). The destruc- 
 tion of Jericho would affect the whole country which joined in the 
 defence of this important place (chap. xxiv. 11). It was necessary 
 that these people should be driven out, if the Israelites were .to possess 
 the land promised to them and to their fathers. Moreover, the 
 Canaanites were a wicked, Pagan people, deserving the affliction 
 which the Lord in this way sent upon them. 
 
 18. None of the booty usually given to conquerors was Israel to 
 have. Taking an accursed thing would involve the people in the 
 curse (Deut. vii. 26, xiii. 17). It was necessary that the authority 
 of the Lord should be impressed upon the Israelites. This was no 
 ordinary conquest, and should have more than the ordinary rules. 
 
 "But all the silver and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated 
 onto the Lord: they shall come into the treasury of the Lord. 
 
JOSHUA. 27 
 
 " So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets; and it came 
 to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted 
 with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the 
 city, every man straight before him, and they took the city." — Josh. vi. 19, 20. 
 
 19. The silver and gold, the vessels of brass and iron, were conse- 
 crated, and were to come into the treasury of the Lord. There would 
 be holy uses found for these when the people were established. 
 
 20. Here we have the fall of the city. At the sound of the trum- 
 pets, the listening people shouted as they were bidden, " and the wall 
 fell down flat." The way was open, and they went up into the city, 
 and they took the city. Thus was the promise fulfilled. 
 
 This was another miracle. There were no natural causes to throw 
 down the strong walls. The city might well defy the assaults of the 
 hosts of Israel, little used to war, illy provided with munitions of war, 
 powerless before the walls and towers of a strong place like Jericho. 
 They obeyed ; and their obedience gave them the victory. It was 
 God's gift. He was able to do this. He did it. 
 
 "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down." Faith showed itself in 
 the patient waiting, in the absence of attempt to take the city by 
 force or guile, in the marches of seven days, in the final shout. 
 They believed God. 
 
 The miracle was of great value. It gave the children of Israel 
 renewed assurance of the designs of God, and impressed the Canaan- 
 ites with the hopelessness of resisting those whom the Lord was 
 leading. If sea and river and walls gave way at their coming, who 
 could withstand them ? 
 
 The required destruction was visited upon the people and the cattle 
 " with the edge of the sword." Eahab's house was recognized by the 
 spies who had lodged in it; and the scarlet line was seen bound in the 
 window; and she, and her father, mother, brethren, and all her 
 kindred, were saved. The woman's faith was abundantly rewarded. 
 At first she and her father's household were left without the camp 
 of Israel; for they were not of the Lord's people. Yet she was 
 afterwards received, and dwelt with Israel. 
 
 Then the city was burned ; and nothing more was known to be 
 saved, but the things set apart for the treasury of the Lord. Finally 
 Joshua put an oath upon the people: " Cursed be the man before the 
 Lord that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay 
 the foundation thereof in his first-born ; and in his youngest son shall 
 he set up the gates of it." What was left of Jericho fell to the tribe 
 of Benjamin. In 1 Kings xvi. 34, we read of the attempt of Hie] 
 to rebuild Jericho, — a fatal undertaking, according to the word of 
 
28 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 the Lord, which he spake by Joshua. Jericho again became a place 
 of considerable importance, and is found in both the Old and the 
 New Testaments. 
 
 " The Lord was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout 
 all the country." 
 
 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 
 
 1. We are to obey God, even in strange things. 
 
 2. Faith makes obedience easy. 
 8. Obedience is rewarded. 
 
 4. With God, nothing is impossible. 
 
 5. If the scarlet line is bound in our window, the precious blood of 
 Christ sprinkled upon our souls, we are safe. 
 
 Lessor YI. — Achan's Stn t . — Chap. vii. 6-15. 
 
 After Jericho was taken, Joshua prepared to advance to the further 
 conquest and possession of the land. He sent men up to view AL 
 The precise situation of Ai cannot be determined. It was at the east 
 of Bethel, and near it, and north-west of Jericho, and distant from it 
 some thirteen miles. It was in existence in Abram's time (Gen. 
 xii. 8). Joshua sent up men to examine the place and the approaches 
 to it. The spies came back, and reported that the people of Ai were 
 but few. The population of Ai is given in chapter viii. 25 as twelve 
 thousand. The number of its warriors was, therefore, not very large ; 
 and two or three thousand men were deemed sufficient to conquer 
 them, and take their city. About three thousand were sent up for 
 this purpose. Little as it was expected, the men of Ai put the sol- 
 diers of Israel to flight, without even a battle it seems, and chased 
 them even unto Shebarim. The invaders lost thirty-six men ; but the 
 effect upon them was disastrous ; " for the hearts of the people melted, 
 and became as water." The signal successes they had enjoyed left 
 them poorly prepared for this utter defeat. 
 
 " And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the 
 ark of the Lord, until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon 
 their heads. 
 
 " And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord God, wherefore hast thou at all brought this 
 people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us ? 
 would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan ! " — Josbl 
 vii. 6, 7. 
 
JOSHUA. 29 
 
 6. Joshua was greatly distressed. His mourning was expressed by 
 the signs common in the East. He rent his clothes, and threw him- 
 self on his face before the ark, that is, before the Lord ; and, with 
 the elders of Israel, he put dust upon his head (see Gen. xxxvii. 29; 
 Lev. x. 6; Num. xx. 6; 1 Sam. iv. 12; 2 Sam. i. 2). 
 
 7. Joshua poured out his heart before God in lamentation and 
 prayer. His words are not meant for complaint, though they sound 
 much like the murmuring of his people in the wilderness (compare 
 Num. xx. 3-5). But Joshua was surprised, bewildered. He could not 
 understand why so much had been done, if all was now to be undone. 
 It had been better to have remained on the other side of the Jordan. 
 
 He had not lost faith in God ; f or^ he acknowledged the favors 
 already bestowed, and confessed that the Lord could still do as he 
 would. With such power, with such purposes as he had declared, 
 with such wonders as he had performed, it was inexplicable that 
 Israel should have been repulsed before the second place which they 
 approached in the land given to them. If such were God's will, 
 Joshua would submit ; but filled with wonder, disappointment, con- 
 fusion, he cried unto God. 
 
 "O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their hacks before their ene- 
 mies! 
 
 " For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and 
 shall environ ns round, and cut off our name from the earth ; and what wilt thou 
 do unto thy great name? " — Josh. vii. 8, 9. 
 
 8. What could he say in explanation of this strange defeat? He 
 did not understand it. What should he say to Israel ? How should 
 he explain the situation, support their faith, revive their courage, 
 keep them loyal to the Lord, who had suffered them to be chased by 
 Pagans ? With the backs, literally the necks, of Israel toward their 
 foes, while yet the work of conquest was scarcely begun, what could 
 he say to them ? 
 
 9. What could he say to the Canaanites, who knew that Israel had 
 come up under the guidance of Jehovah? God had shown himself 
 mighty at the sea and river, powerful against the walls of Jericho ; 
 and now all was reversed. His people were chased by his enemies. 
 These would take courage, and, seeing that the power of the Lord was 
 no longer with the Israelites, would gather about them, and utterly 
 destroy them, so that not even their name would be left. Where, then, 
 would be the covenant made with their fathers, the promises many 
 times renewed ? Sad as it would be to have the name of Israel con- 
 temned and destroyed, worse would it be to have the name of the 
 
30 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 Lord brought into dishonor. " What wilt thou do unto thy great 
 name?" Canaan would continue to despise him, and serve their 
 own gods. Israel would be blotted out, would perish, feeling that 
 God had forsaken her, and broken his word of promise, renewed in 
 miracles. Who would there be to pay him reverence, maintain his 
 law, preserve his name ? This was the consummation of the appeal. 
 Canaan might prevail, which would be the success of rebellion ; Is- 
 rael might be destroyed, which would be the exterminating of God's 
 people : but, worse than all in these calamities, the name of God 
 would become a reproach (compare the prayers of Moses in Exod. 
 di. 9-14; Num. xiv. 11-14; Deut. ix. 26-29). 
 
 "And the Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up : wherefore liest thou thus upon 
 thy face? 
 
 "Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I 
 commanded them ; for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also 
 stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among then* own stuff." 
 — Josh. vii. 10, 11. 
 
 10. The Lord roused Joshua with a quick call. Why should the 
 man despair ? This was strange ; but other things had been strange. 
 Could Joshua tell how the Eecl Sea had been parted, or the Jordan 
 had rolled back its waters, or the stout walls of Jericho fallen at the 
 blast of a trumpet, and the sound of men's voices ? The Lord had 
 done these things. What room was there for despair, though a 
 strange discomfiture had befallen Israel ? Every thing was strange ; 
 but God was in all: every strange thing had worked for Israel's 
 advantage. " Get thee up: wherefore liest thou upon thy face?" 
 There was more work for Joshua. 
 
 11. Joshua seems to have had no suspicion of the real cause of 
 Israel's calamity. The Lord disclosed the cause: " Israel hath 
 sinned." Read again chap. vi. 18. The spoil of this idolatrous 
 city was to be burned, save certain things preserved for the treasury 
 of the Lord. Israel had transgressed this commandment. Israel had 
 taken of the devoted thing. They had stolen this ; for it was the 
 Lord's: they had dissembled regarding it, professing to have nothing 
 which was not their own : they had appropriated it to their own use, 
 h'ding it among their own stuff. Notice the accumulation of charges 
 concerning one transaction. 
 
 " Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but 
 turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed : neither will 
 I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed thing from among you. 
 
 "Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow; for 
 thus saith the Lord God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, 
 O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the 
 accursed thing from among you." — Josh. vii. 12, 13. 
 
JOSHUA. 31 
 
 12. In disobeying God, they had broken the covenant with him, 
 which was based upon their obeying his word. If they were obedi- 
 ent, they should be established in their own land. They had put 
 themselves without the pale of his covenanted protection ; and hence 
 they turned their backs before their enemies. They had made the 
 camp of Israel accursed (chap. vi. 18) ; and the curse was seen in 
 their flight and fear. 
 
 Nor was this the end. Except they destroyed the accursed from 
 among them, the Lord would be with them no more. The accursed 
 thing was to be found ; and he who had it was to be put to death. 
 
 It was of the first importance that Israel should obey God. To 
 serve him is an end in itself. If this new nation, entering a new 
 land, setting up new institutions, preparing blessings for coming gen- 
 erations, should begin with transgressing the commandment of God, 
 and this should be adhered to, the whole plan was defeated. There 
 were godless men enough everywhere. Nothing was to be gained by 
 thrusting out the Canaanites, "idolaters in form, and bringing in the 
 Israelites, idolaters in spirit. 
 
 This was one act ; but it was a whole sin : it was the act of Adam 
 and Eve over again, the putting of self above God and his law. 
 Such a spirit must be rebuked at the outset. It must be settled then 
 and there, that God is to be perfectly obeyed. Loyalty was to be 
 entire. Then the name and law and honor of God would be main- 
 tained, and through Israel all nations of the earth should be blessed. 
 
 13. Joshua was to arise, and to summon the people. By religious rites 
 they were to prepare themselves for the morrow. Joshua lay before 
 the ark till eventide, and it was too late to do the work that day. But 
 Israel was to be told what was to be done. The reason of the disas- 
 ter at Ai was to be shown to them. There was an accursed thing 
 among them. Until that was put away, they could not stand before 
 their enemies. Having that would not make the enemies stronger ; 
 but it would deprive Israel of the help of the Lord, and bring upon 
 them his chastening by the hand of their foes. 
 
 " In the morning, therefore, ye shall be brought according to your tribes : and it 
 shall be, that the tribe which the Lord taketh shall come according to the families 
 thereof; and the family which the Lord shall take shall come by households ; and 
 the household which th* Lord shall take shall come man by man. 
 
 " And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt 
 with, fire, he and all that he hath ; because he hath transgressed the covenant of 
 the Lord, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel." — Josh. vii. 14, 15. 
 
 14. In the morning they were to come out, tribe by tribe. Th^ 
 tribe in which the accursed thing was to be found was determined 
 
32 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 by the Lord, then the family in that tribe, then the household, then 
 the man. This process of selection was apparently made by lot. 
 " The Hebrew word for lot suggests that small stones, probably white 
 and black ones, were used. These were probably drawn from a chest : 
 hence the expression used of the lot, that it came up (xviii. 11), and 
 came out (xix. 1). The lot was regarded as directed in its result by 
 God (Prov. xvi. 33, where, perhaps, the lap may mean an urn or 
 chest), and hence was used on every mlportant occasion by the Jews, 
 and by other nations in ancient times. Among many instances of the 
 use of the lot, the following may be referred to : Lev. xvi. 8 ; Num. 
 xxvi. 55; Judg. xx. 9, 10; 1 Sam. x. 20, xiv. 41, 42; Joel iii. 3; Jonah 
 i. 7 ; Matt, xxvii. 35 ; Acts i. 26.- This was a simple way of determin- 
 ing a matter beyond the range of ordinary knowledge. The point to 
 be especially noticed is, that the direction of the lot, the bringing out 
 of the result, was of the Lord. It was hence a sacred act, to be used 
 solemnly, and not in idle sport. It was an appeal to divine wisdom 
 and counsel. 
 
 15. The man who was detected was to be stoned with stones (ver. 
 25), and then burned with fire, "he and all that he hath." The 
 law provided, that, in extreme cases, the body should be burned, 
 which would be an increase of the penalty. It was said, " Israel hath 
 sinned." Here the sinful act is brought down to one man. His sin 
 involved Israel in calamity. If Israel should find the offender, and 
 punish him, the guilt would be removed with the guilty man. If 
 Israel should refuse to do this, the act would virtually be accepted as 
 that of the people, and the penalty would fall upon the whole. 
 
 The remainder of the chapter finishes the story. Joshua rose early, 
 and followed the Lord's direction. Finally Achan stood alone as the 
 guilty man. By slow degrees he had seen the circle narrowing, till 
 at last he was found at the centre. He confessed his sin, and told 
 what he had taken, and where the spoil was to be found. When it was 
 brought out, Achan, his sons and daughters, his cattle and sheep, and 
 the devoted things from Jericho, were carried into the Valley of 
 Achor. "And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them 
 with fire, after they had stoned them with stones." It is not expressly 
 stated that the sons and daughters were put to death ; but this is im- 
 plied. It may be they were partakers in the sin, or in the concealment 
 which followed the taking of the accursed thing. It was forbidden 
 bylaw (Deut. xxiv. 16) that the children should be put to death for the 
 fathers. " Every man shall be put to death for his own sin." This 
 might be extended by express command, and the household destroyed 
 
JOSHUA, 33 
 
 for the guilt of its head, who acted for it. In Oriental countries it 
 has in all ages been common to involve the children in the father's 
 guilt and its punishment. The counterpart to this is seen in the bless- 
 ings so often promised and given to children for their father's sake. 
 The relationship of parent and child is held in high honor in the 
 Scriptures, and the responsibility is proportionably great. 
 
 The Valley of Achor " formed part of the northern border of Judah, 
 (xv. 7), and must, therefore, have lain amongst the ridges which cross 
 the plain to the south of Jericho. But its exact site is uncertain." 
 
 There a great heap of stones was raised in memory of the sin of 
 Achan and its terrible consequences. " So the Lord turned from the 
 fierceness of his anger." His favor returned to Israel, which was 
 purged from sin. In the next chapter we have an account of the 
 taking of Ai, the burning of the city, the slaughter of its people, and 
 the hanging of its king. Thus the Israelites advanced another step 
 in the conquest of the land. 
 
 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 
 
 1. While we are led by God, we are still to walk prudently. Joshua 
 sent spies to the city, which he felt sure would be his. 
 
 2. When God commands, we are to obey implicitly. 
 . 3. If we obey God, we may be sure of success in life. 
 
 4. " Be sure your sin will find you out." 
 
 5. Mark the glory of the gospel. We sin ; but Christ has died, and 
 we can be forgiven. 
 
 Lesson VII. — Ebae and Gerizim. — Chap. viii. 30-35. 
 
 Following the account of the destruction of Ai, we have the reading 
 of the law, and the pronouncing of its blessings and curses. This is 
 a fitting transaction to mark the entrance of the people into their own 
 land. It was well that they should understand the constitution 
 under which they were to live. It is thought by some that the pas- 
 sage now to be considered is out of its proper place. From Gilgal, 
 where Israel was encamped, to Ebal, was about thirty miles. The 
 march and the return, with the tarry at the mountains, would occupy 
 several days, perhaps a week, and be attended with many difficulties 
 and dangers. The women and children and strangers attended the 
 men, making a large host. The country they were to enter was still 
 in possession of the enemy. Of course, all this could have been done 
 
34 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 with no more difficulty than had been overcome at other times. But 
 there is no account of any miraculous aid. It is quite likely that this 
 incident belongs to a later period of the history ; but this is not certain. 
 Many manuscripts place these verses after the second verse of the next 
 chapter. It is conjectured by one recent writer that their true place 
 is at the end of the eleventh chapter. Their precise place is of less 
 account than the facts narrated, with regard to which all is clear. 
 
 " Then Joshua built an altar unto the Lord God of Israel in Mount Ebal." — 
 Josh. viii. 30. 
 
 30. Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim were near the southern boun- 
 dary of that part of the Holy Land afterwards known as Samaria. 
 They were at the side of the valley in which was the ancient Shechem. 
 Ebal was on the northern side, and Gerizim on the southern. Ebal rose 
 to about twenty-seven hundred feet above the level of the sea, and Geri- 
 zim twenty-six hundred. The former was about a thousand, and the 
 latter about nine hundred feet above the town in the valley. There 
 is much historical interest attached to these mountains and the 
 region they occupy. 
 
 On Mount Ebal Joshua built an altar unto the Lord God of Israel. 
 The name was not spoken there for the first time. At Shechem, Abram 
 built an altar. There Jacob bought a parcel of ground, in which 
 Joseph was afterwards buried, and which became the inheritance of 
 his children (Josh. xxiv. 32). It is supposed to have been on Gerizim 
 that Abraham prepared to offer Isaac in sacrifice. But for a long 
 time the Canaanite had been in the land ; and the name and law of 
 Jehovah had ceased to be regarded. The time was come for better 
 things. 
 
 " As Moses the servant of the Lord commanded the children of Israel, as it is 
 written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones, over which no 
 man hath lifted up any iron; and they offered thereon burnt offerings unto the 
 Lord, and sacrificed peace offerings." — Josh. viii. 31. 
 
 31. In building the altar, Joshua was acting under the direction of 
 Moses. The twenty-seventh chapter of Deuteronomy gives the com- 
 mand which Joshua was now obeying. The altar was to be built of 
 whole stones. The stones were not to be hewn (Exod. xx. 25) ; " for, 
 if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it." If they were 
 allowed to cut the stones, there would be danger that they would come 
 to carve upon them some representation of the deity, or such other 
 figures and ornaments as would lead to superstition. God is spirit; 
 and no graven image of him was to be made. He was to be worshipped 
 in spirit and in truth. It was in this very place that our Saviour 
 declared these truths to the Samaritan woman. It was very common 
 
JOSHUA. 35 
 
 among ancient nations to erect altars of rough stone. There may 
 have been a symbolical reason for building the altars of Israel of 
 stones in their natural state. In making an offering for sin, man's 
 part was small: the virtue was in the sacrifice. Not a beautiful 
 altar reconciled the sinner to God, but a perfect sacrifice, offered in 
 sincerity of penitence and faith. 
 
 On this altar they offered burnt offerings unto the Lord. We have 
 the command for burnt offerings in Exod. xxix. 38-42. " The main 
 idea is the offering of the whole victim to God, representing (as tin? 
 laying of the hand on its head shows) the devotion of the sacrifices 
 body and soul, to him. Of the peace offering we read in Lev. vii. 
 11-21. This was in recognition of the bounty of God, and a sign of 
 thankful homage to him. After certain portions of the sacrifice wero 
 given to the priest, the remainder of the flesh was eaten by the sac- 
 rificer. "It betokened the enjoyment of communion with God, at 
 1 the table of the Lord,' in the gifts which his mercy had bestowed.' 7 
 Both of these offerings were appropriate at the entrance of the Isra- 
 elites into the land which the Lord had given them, in which he was 
 establishing them by miracles. Head Ps. li. 16, 17 ; Rom. xii. 1 ; 
 Heb. xiii. 15, 16. 
 
 " And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he 
 wrote in the presence of the children of Israel." — Josh. viii. 32. 
 
 32. " He wrote upon the stones." It would seem from this passage 
 that he wrote on the stones of the altar. But in Deut. xxvii. 2, 3, 
 we read that stones, "great stones," were to be set up, and covered 
 with "plaster," and that the writing was to be on these; so that 
 there were probably two or more sets of stones. " Stones and even 
 rocks are seen in Egypt, on the Peninsula of Sinai, containing inscrip- 
 tions made three thousand years ago, in painted plaster, of which, 
 owing to the serenity of the climate, the coating is as firm, and the 
 color as fresh, as if it had been put on yesterday. ... It is most prob- 
 able that Moses learned the art from the Egyptians." Upon these 
 stones was written " a copy of the law of Moses." This could hardly 
 have been a copy of all the laws given by Moses. The inscription 
 may have contained simply the blessings and curses afterwards read 
 to the people, or it may have been made up of the Decalogue alone. 
 The latter seems the more probable. Compare Deut v. 6-21 and 
 Deut. xxvii. 3 with this thirty-second verse. By writing the Ten 
 Commandments where they could be seen, the people would have 
 them more forcibly presented to their minds. So long as the writing 
 endured, there would be a vivid presentation of the law of the Lord, 
 the law of the land, the constitution of the nation. "It is a great 
 
36 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 mercy to any people to have the law of God in writing ; and it is fit 
 that the written law should be exposed to common view in a known 
 tongue, that it may be seen and read of all men. Kead Deut. xvii. 
 18-20. 
 
 " And all Israel, and their elders and officers, and their judges, stood on this 
 side the ark and on that side, before the priests, the Levites, which bare the ark 
 of the covenant of the Lord, as well the stranger, as he that was born among 
 them ; half of them over against Mount Gerizim, and half of them over against 
 Mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded before, that they 
 should bless the people of Israel. 
 
 " And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, 
 according to all that is written in the book of the law." — Josh. viii. 33, 34. 
 
 33. The people were then divided. The ark was in the centre. On 
 one side was one portion of the people, — the elders, officers, and 
 judges ; and the remainder on the other side, " half of them over 
 against Mount Gerizim, and half of them over against Mount Ebal." 
 The division of the tribes is given in Deut. xxvii. 12, 13. The com- 
 mand of Moses is in Deut. xi. 26-29, xxvii. 11-14. 
 
 34. When the division was made, the Levites were to " speak, and 
 say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice" (Deut. xxvii. 14). 
 The distance of these two mountains each from the other was not so 
 great as to make this narrative surprising. " A voice can be heard 
 without difficulty across the valley separating the two spots in 
 question." On account of the clear, elastic atmosphere of the East, 
 a voice is readily heard at a great distance. In this case it would 
 appear that the Levites, or priests, stood in the valley, nearthe ark 
 which held the law, with half of the people on each side of them ; so 
 that their voices would have to reach over but half the distance 
 between the two divisions of Israel in order to be heard by every 
 person. The responses of the great multitude on either mount 
 would easily be heard upon the other. 
 
 Joshua " read all the words of the law." He read not with his 
 own voice, but by the priests, who were under his control. The next 
 verse tell,s more fully what was read: " There was not a word of all 
 that Moses commanded which Joshua read not." "It would seem 
 that Joshua, on the present occasion, must have read, at least, all 
 the legislative portion of the Pentateuch before the people." Pro- 
 vision had been made for the stated reading of the law once in seven 
 years (Deut. xxxi. 9-11). The design of the reading is stated with 
 the command (Deut. xxxi. 12, 13). The people needed to be re- 
 minded of their duty. There were also strangers corning - among 
 them, and children born who needed instruction. Their prosperity 
 depended upon their obeying the law of the Lord, and keeping cove- 
 
JOSHUA. 37 
 
 nant with hini. To this end it was necessary that they should know 
 their duty. 
 
 But, besides the law itself, the blessings and cursings written with 
 it were also read by Joshua's command. What these were we see 
 in Deut. xxvii., xsviii. The curses are given in their full form: 
 the blessings are not so formally expressed. The priests recited one 
 blessing with their faces turned towards Gerizim: "Blessed is the 
 man that maketh not a graven or molten image." The multitude on 
 that mountain responded in a united shout of, "Amen." Then, 
 turning to Ebal, the priests read one of the curses: "Cursed be the 
 man that maketh any graven or molten image," when from that 
 mountain rolled down to the ark, and over to the opposite host, the 
 loud " Amen." By this response, the people consented to the law. 
 They were willing to be blessed on these terms ; and, if they incurred 
 the curse, it was just it should fall upon them. The propriety of 
 having the "Amen" proceed from the people, and not from the 
 priest, would be too obvious to need even a passing notice, were it not 
 so common now for the same man to offer the blessing, or the prayer 
 for blessing, and then indorse his own words by adding the " Amen." 
 
 The former method of reading and responding appears to have 
 been applied to each blessing and each curse in its turn. The whole 
 scene must have been most solemn and impressive. " On Mount 
 Gerizim were stationed the descendants of Kachel and Leah, the two 
 principal wives of Jacob, and to them was assigned the most pleasant 
 and honorable office of pronouncing the benedictions ; while on the 
 twin-hill of Ebal were placed the posterity of the two secondary 
 wives, Zilpah and Bilhah, with those of Keuben who had lost the 
 primogeniture, and Zebulon, son of Leah, youngest son: to them 
 was committed the necessary but painful duty of pronouncing the 
 maledictions." 
 
 " There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not 
 before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the 
 strangers that were conversant among them." — Josh. viii. 35. . 
 
 35. Not only were the rulers and men of Israel present at this 
 repetition of the law, with its blessings and curses, but " the women, 
 and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among 
 them." The duty of knowing and serving God was common to all, and 
 should be made known to all. The covenant offered its mercies to 
 all ; and every one should know what the Lord would do for him. 
 This act was a sort of naturalization of all the people, as the people of 
 the Lord in the land of promise. The covenant embraced children's 
 children, who should be instructed in their duties and privileges as 
 members of the household of God. 
 
38 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 These verses mark a farther advance of Israel. No other city had 
 been taken, no new miracle encouraged them; but they had been 
 brought near to God, and into the line of his covenanted blessings. 
 
 PRACTICAL, THOUGHTS. 
 
 1. We should pervade all our works with religion ; on every march, 
 in every undertaking, build an altar unto the Lord God of Israel. 
 
 2. In all acts done for God, obey him strictly. 
 
 3. Bead his law where it is written : write it on the tables of the 
 heart : keep it always in mind. \ 
 
 4. He who blesses may punish. Choose the blessing, and make 
 sure of it. 
 
 5. Teach the law of God, and his gospel of grace, to the stranger 
 and the child. 
 
 Lesson VIII. — Caleb's Inheritance. — Chap. xiv. 6-15. 
 
 After the events narrated in chap, viii., Joshua proceeded to the 
 further conquest of the land. The Canaanitish kings united against 
 him ; but he defeated them. " So Joshua took the whole land, accord- 
 ing to all that the Lord said unto Moses. . . . And the land rested 
 from war" (chap. xi. 23). There were, however, many districts 
 which were not thoroughly subdued, though Joshua had marched 
 victoriously up and down the country. At the beginning of chap, 
 xiii. we have Joshua, " old, and stricken in years," and much land 
 remaining yet to be possessed. Here begins an account of the divis- 
 ion of the territory among the tribes, both that which had come 
 into the possession of the Israelites, and that which the Canaanites 
 were still holding. " Joshua is here bidden to allot the whole of the 
 promised land out amongst the twelve tribes, in faith that God would 
 perfect in due time that expulsion of the Canaanites which Joshua 
 himself could not carry further." Two tribes and a half had already 
 had their share of the land assigned to them by Moses in the district 
 east of the Jordan : the land was assigned to the remaining tribes by 
 lot. Before the casting of the lot began, the incident occurred 
 which forms the subject of the present lesson. 
 
 " Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal; and Caleb, the son 
 of Jephunneh the Kenezite, said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the 
 Lord said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadr*h- 
 bamea." — Josh. xiv. 6. 
 
JOSHUA. 39 
 
 6. Joshua belonged to the tribe of Judah. Caleb was the son of 
 Jephunneh, who was descended from Kenaz, who was a grandson 
 of Esau, and one of the dukes of Edom (see Gen. xxxvi. 2, 4, 15). 
 Caleb was descended from Adah, one of the Canaanitish wives of 
 Esau. He was now coming, therefore, into the land which was his 
 own, both on his ancestral side, and on that of his personal relations 
 with the people of God. The Kenezites were an Edomitish tribe, of 
 whose origin and place nothing is known. They "had ceased to 
 exist in the time of Moses and Joshua." If they are mentioned in 
 their proper place in Gen. xv. 19, of course they were not descended 
 from the Kenaz just mentioned. But the origin of Caleb's desig- 
 nation seems clear, though some have thought it was given him 
 because of some remarkable victory obtained over the Kenezites, in 
 the same way as Africanus, Germain cus, &c, were joined to the 
 names of Roman generals. Caleb came to Joshua attended, proba- 
 bly, by leading men of his tribe, and by his own kinsmen, to present 
 his claim for a certain portion of the land before the division. 
 His claim was supported by those who attended him. He made his 
 appeal to a previous assignment made by Moses. If Moses had al- 
 ready given him his portion, acting by divine direction, there was no 
 reason for an appeal to the lot, as far as he was concerned ; and the 
 land promised him should not be included in the territory to be 
 divided. He appealed to the knowledge of Joshua himself. " Thou 
 knowest." Moses is " the man of God." How blessed his memory! 
 how strong the claim based upon what he had done ! He referred 
 to the sayirjg of Moses at Kadesh-barnea. 
 
 " Forty years old was I when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from 
 Kadesh-Barnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in 
 mine heart." — Josh. xiv. 7. 
 
 7. Kadesh-barnea was the place from which Mosas sent the men 
 who were to spy out the land of Canaan. Caleb came back with a 
 favorable report. He told what was in his heart. He did not speak 
 to please Moses, to gratify the people, or to advance his own interests. 
 He described the condition of things according to his best judgment. 
 He encouraged the possession of the land. True, there were diffi- 
 culties in the enterprise ; but he said, "If the Lord delight in us, 
 then he will bring us into this land and give it to us. " 
 
 " Nevertheless, my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the peo- 
 ple melt; but I wholly followed the Lord my God. 
 
 "And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have 
 trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children's forever, because thou hast 
 wholly followed the Lord my God. 
 
40 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 " And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five 
 years, even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses, while the children of 
 Israel wandered in the wilderness ; and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five 
 years old." — Josh. xiv. 8-10. 
 
 8. In telling the truth about the land, and encouraging the people 
 to enter it, relying on the divine assistance ; and in bidding them rebel 
 not against the Lord, nor fear the people of' the land, saying, " The 
 Lord is with us, fear them not," — in all this he was following the 
 Lord fully. In obedience and trust he committed his way to him. 
 
 His brethren, the other spies, except Joshua himself, brought back 
 a fearful report. They magnified the dangers of the proposed under- 
 taking. They had no confidence in success. They forgot that the 
 Lord was their leader, and that he had promised them the victory. 
 " We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger 
 than we." But Caleb said, " Let us go up at once." The congrega- 
 tion yielded to their fears, and lifted up their voice, and wept that 
 night. Their heart had melted. 
 
 9. "Moses sware." He promised after the Lord, repeating the 
 divine gift: the promise was confirmed by an oath (see Heb. vi. 13). 
 For the promise and its confirmation read Num. xiv. 21-24, 30 ; Deut. 
 i. 34-36. 
 
 10. Caleb acknowledged the goodness of God towards him. He 
 had been preserved till the time should come for the fulfilment of the 
 promise. All who were twenty years old and upwards, when that 
 promise was made, had died, save Caleb and Joshua. It was a signifi- 
 cant fact as these men stood face to face in the land they had dared 
 to enter when others feared. 
 
 That was forty-five years before. It was in the second year after 
 the exodus that the land was searched by the spies, and that the 
 heart of the people was made to melt. Then followed thirty-eight 
 yeans of wandering, and their successors crossed the Jordan. Seven 
 years of conquest had gone by after that. Caleb, forty years old 
 when he received the promise, had come to be eighty-five. He was 
 the oldest man in Israel, except Joshua. Caleb was twenty years 
 older than any other man, except his faithful associate and illustrious 
 commander. By the usual reckoning, Joshua was seven years older 
 than Caleb. Caleb had a long experience of the goodness of God, 
 and of his fidelity to all his promises. He bore witness to this in the 
 presence of the people. Not his might, but the Lord, had kept him 
 alive. To be alive was the marked fact ; for the rest had died. To be 
 alive was a fact whose force Joshua would feel as no other man 
 could. Caleb had been kept alive that the word of the Lord to him 
 
JOSHUA. 41 
 
 might be fulfilled. His very existence was a confirmation of the 
 promise. 
 
 "As yet I am as strong this day as I ivas in the day that Moses sent me : as my 
 strength ica.3 then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to 
 come in. 
 
 •'Now, therefore, give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spake in that day; 
 for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities 
 were great and fenced: if so, be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able 
 to drive them out, as the Lord said." — Josh. xiv. 11, 12. 
 
 11. But not merely" was his life spared: his strength remained. 
 He was still equal to work. If his request demanded more warfare, 
 he was ready for it. All the duties which would be laid upon him, he 
 was able to bear. He had his old courage and unabated strength. 
 
 12. He asked for the mountain country around Hebron. Hebron 
 was twenty miles south of Jebus, or Jerusalem. It was one of the 
 most ancient cities in the world. It was well known when Abram 
 came into the land (Gen. xiii. 18). In Num. xiii. 22, we read, "Now 
 Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt. It was the 
 scene of many important events in the history of the patriarchs, and 
 in the later history of their descendants. " The earliest seat of 
 civilized life, not only of Judah, but of Palestine, was Hebron. . . . 
 It needs but few words to give the secret of this early selection, of 
 this long continuance, of the metropolitan city of Judah. Every 
 traveller from the desert will have been struck by the sight of that 
 green vale, with its orchards and vineyards, and numberless wells, 
 and, in earlier times, we must add the grove of terebinths, or oaks, 
 which then attracted from afar the eye of the wandering tribes. 
 This fertility was in fact owing to its elevation into the cooler and 
 the more watered region, above the dry and withered valleys of the 
 rest of Judaea. Commanding this fertile valley rose Hebron on its 
 crested hill. Beneath was the burial-place of the founders of their 
 race. Caleb must have marked out the spot for his own, when, with 
 the spies, he had passed through this very valley." 
 
 In the narrative of the spying out of the land, we find this place 
 mentioned (Num. xiii. 22). There were the sons of Anak, the 
 giants, sons of the giants, " and we were in our own sight as grass- 
 hoppers, and so we were in their sight." These were among the 
 chief terrors who frightened the ten spies. The mighty and cruel 
 Pagans, dwelling in great and fenced cities, among the mountains of 
 a strange land, overcame the courage of those who found the land 
 fruitful and desirable in itself: "We be not able to go up against 
 the people." But Caleb said, " We are able," Seeing the perils, he 
 4* 
 
c 
 
 42 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 was desirous to go on. "The Lord is with us: fear them not." 
 That courage had remained, and was strengthened . by the events 
 which had filled forty-five years. " The Anakims had, in the course 
 of Joshua's campaigns in the south, been expelled from the neigh- 
 borhood of Hebron ; but they had only withdrawn to the neighbor- 
 ing cities of Philistia" (Josh. xi. 21, 22). " Thence they had, 
 as must be inferred from the text here, returned, and re-occupied 
 Hebron, probably when Joshua and the main force of the Israelites 
 had marched northward to deal with Jabin and his confederates." 
 
 " And Joshua blessed Mm, and gave unto Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, Hebron 
 for an inheritance. 
 
 " Hebron, therefore, became the inheritance of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the 
 Kenezite, unto this day, because that he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel. 
 
 " And the name of Hebron before teas Kirjath-arba; lohich Arba was a great 
 man among the Anakims. And the land had rest from war." — Josh. xiv. 13-15. 
 
 13. Joshua recognized the justice of Caleb's claim, and readily 
 acceded to his request. It was doubtless very pleasant to him to be 
 able thus to gratify one who had stood with him in a time of difficulty, 
 and to fulfil the promise of the Lord by Moses, made so long before. 
 He had confidence that Caleb could carry out the bold plan which he 
 had formed. He gave him his blessing, — his personal and official 
 blessing, — and gave him Hebron for an inheritance. 
 
 14. So Hebron became the possession of Caleb and of his children, 
 unto this day. The reason of this, which is repeated from the words 
 of Caleb himself, is to be especially noted: "Because he hath wholiv 
 followed the Lord God of Israel." Take in connection with this tne 
 ground of his confidence when he asked for Hebron: "If so be the 
 Lord shall be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as 
 the Lord said." 
 
 "Caleb finally drove out this formidable race, and occupied Hebron 
 and its dependent towns and district permanently " (chap. xv. 13, 14). 
 
 15. The name of the place was Kirjath-arba (Gen. xxiii. 2). This 
 does not appear to have been the original name, but one given on the 
 taking of the place by the Anakims. Possibly Hebron was the oldei 
 name, and was merely a restoration by Caleb. Arba, as we are told 
 in this verse, was " a great man among the Anakims," literally, 
 "the great man, i.e., renowned ancestor, of the tribe, regarded as the 
 founder of its greatness." " It was the city of Arba, the old Canaan- 
 ite chief, with his three giant sons, under whose walls the trembling 
 spies stole through the land by the adjacent valley of Eshcol." 
 In 1 Sam. xxx. 11 we find the name of Caleb given to this region. 
 
JOSHUA. 43 
 
 " The land had rest from war:" this is repeated from chap. xi. 23. 
 It is " an intimation that the remaining Canaanilss did not molest the 
 Israelites in the process of partitioning the conquered territory." 
 
 We find among the six cities of ref nge " Kirjath-arba, which is 
 Hebron, in the mountain of Judah " (chap. xx. 7). In the assign- 
 ment of eight and forty cities by lot unto the Levites, we read, " They 
 gave to the children of Aaron the priest, Hebron with her suburbs, to 
 be a city of refuge for the slayer." " Tkey gave them the city of Arba 
 the father of Anak, which city is Hebron, in the hill-country of Judah, 
 with the suburbs thereof round about it ; but the fields of the city 
 and the villages thereof, gave they to Caleb for his possession." 
 When Caleb had the place, "he contented himself with the country 
 about it, and cheerfully gave the city to the priests, the Lord's minis- 
 ters ; thinking it could not be better bestowed, no not upon his own. 
 children, nor that it was the less his own for being thus devoted to 
 God." 
 
 After this narrative, the Book of Joshua proceeds to describe the ] 
 partitioning of the conquered land. 
 
 PR ACTIO AL THOUGHTS. 
 
 1. However long the time may be after a promise is made by the 
 Lord, it is sure to be fulfilled. 
 
 2. Faith in the Lord is well bestowed. In his strength we should 
 be willing to go whither he directs. 
 
 3. Experience of God's goodness should lead to enlarged faith in 
 him. 
 
 4. We should be generous in using all that the Lord puts into our 
 hands. 
 
 Lesson IX. — The Land divided. — Chap, xviii. 1-10. 
 
 " And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at 
 Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there. And the land was 
 subdued before them." — Josh, xviii. 1. 
 
 1. The tabernacle was set up at Shiloh. Shiloh is placed, in Judg. 
 xxi. 19, " on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway 
 that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebo- 
 nah." This description makes evident that it was where the modern 
 Seilem stands, two or three miles east of the main road, and about 
 half-way between Jerusalem and the ancient Shechem, the modern 
 Nablus. Of the tabernacle we read in Exod xxvi and in Heb. ix. It 
 
44 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 was the movable sanctuary of the people of God. Now that they 
 were establishing themselves in their own land, the tabernacle should 
 be set up, and the full services of religion perf ormed. In Deut. xii. 11 
 we read, that, after crossing the Jordan, "there shall be a place 
 which the Lord your God shall choose, and cause his name to dwell 
 there." This was the place; and to it Joshua was probably guided. 
 The place has no special attractions or interest apart from its connec- 
 tion with the tabernacle and the ark. "Its choice as the national 
 sanctuary may have been determined because of its insignificance, in 
 order to avoid local jealousies, as well as because of its position in 
 the very centre of the whole land, and perhaps, also, because of its 
 seclusion." Its very name " Shiloh," or rest, "was probably bestowed 
 at this juncture, when God had given the people rest from their ene- 
 mies." "The ark of the covenant, which had been kept at Gilgal 
 during the progress of the conquest, was removed thence on the 
 subjugation of the country, and kept at Shiloh from the last days of 
 Joshua to the time of Samuel." 
 
 In the setting-up of the tabernacle, all the people were interested, 
 and the whole congregation assembled. It was fitting that they 
 should unite in the religious acts by which a place was consecrated 
 for the especial dwelling of Him whose might and mercy had brought 
 them to the land. The possession of the country was secured. 
 They could set up the tabernacle without opposition on the part of 
 the heathen nations around them. " The land was subdued before 
 them." 
 
 " And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes which had not 
 yet received their inheritance. 
 
 " And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to 
 possess the land which the Lord God of. your fathers hath given you? " — Josh. 
 xviii. 2, 3. 
 
 2. Two tribes, Eeuben and Gad, and half of Manasseh, had their 
 portion on the east side of the Jordan. Judah and Ephraim, with the 
 remaining half of Manasseh, had already been provided with territory; 
 so that there remained seven tribes whose portion was yet to be as- 
 signed. Although the tribe of Levi had no inheritance of a separate 
 portion of the land, the tribe of Joseph was regarded as two tribes, 
 under the names of Manasseh and Ephraim (chap. xiv. 3, 4; Gen. 
 xlviii. 5). Thus the number twelve remained in the apportionment. 
 
 3. The seven tribes were so well pleased with their situation, that 
 they were in no haste to take possession of the land which belonged 
 to them. Their life was in happy contrast to their experience * in the 
 wilderness. The rest was full of comfort. They were not used to 
 
JOSHUA. 45 
 
 fixed abodes in cities, and were slow to give up the freedom they had 
 enjoyed. They were reluctant to part from those who had been born 
 with them, and had shared their life thus far. There was hard work 
 yet to be done, fierce enemies to be resisted, before they could have 
 . quiet possession of new places ; and they shrunk from the hardship 
 and peril which were involved in further attempts to possess the land. 
 Joshua spoke to them in reproof: " How long are ye slack?" The 
 Lord God had given them the land. They should not delay to take 
 it. They had sought it ; and, now that it was within their reach, they 
 should quickly seize it. While they waited, the enemy would grow 
 stronger to resist them. They were to obey God, to trust in him, 
 and to possess the land according to his commandment. The plan of 
 the Lord reached farther than they could see. 
 
 " Give out from among you three men for each tribe : and I will send them, 
 and they shall rise, and go through the land, and describe it according to the 
 inheritance of them ; and they shall come again to me. 
 
 " And they shall divide it into seven parts : Judah shall abide in their coast on 
 the south ; and the house of Joseph shall abide in their coasts on the north. 
 
 " Ye shall therefore describe the land into seven parts, and bring the descrip- 
 tion hither to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the Lord our God." — 
 Josh, xviii. 4-6. 
 
 4. The land before them was an unknown country. Before it could 
 be fairly and intelligently divided, they must know what it was. 
 Therefore Joshua directed that a commission should be formed of 
 twenty-one competent men, three from each tribe, who should pass 
 through the land, ascertain its general condition, find what cities 
 were in it, and bring back their report. With the assignment of 
 territory to the children of Joseph there had been dissatisfaction 
 expressed (chap. xvii. 14), which made it more desirable that all 
 pains should be taken with the future partition. 
 
 5. Judah and Joseph were to retain the portion already granted to 
 them, which was not to be included in the survey to be made. Those 
 tribes were to be above and below the tabernacle and the ark, as the 
 special guardians of the sanctuary. The rest of the land was to be 
 divided into seven parts. 
 
 6. Although the land was thus divided, the portion which each 
 tribe was to have must still be determined, and by lot. The lot would 
 determine the location of each tribe; but, in fixing its boundaries, 
 regard was to be had to the number of people in the tribe (Num. xxvi. 
 52-56). This was a sacred matter: hence the lot was cast before the 
 Lord, that is, at the tabernacle. It was not an appeal to chance, but 
 to Him who knows all things, and who has a right to placemen where 
 he will. 
 
46 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 " But the Levites have no part among you; for the priesthood of the Lord is 
 their inheritance: and Gad, and Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh, have 
 received their inheritance beyond Jordan on the east, which Moses, the servant 
 of the Lord, gave them. 
 
 " And the men arose and went away ; and Joshua charged them that went to 
 describe the land, saying, G-o and walk through the land, and describe it, and 
 come again to me, that I may here east lots for you before the Lord in Shiloh. 
 
 ' ' And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities 
 into seven parts in a book, and came again to Joshua to the host at Shiloh." — 
 Josh, xviii. 7-9. 
 
 7. For the Levites special provision had already been made (Xum. 
 xviii. 20, 21; Deut. xviii. 1, 2,; chap. xiii. 14, 33). The tribe of Levi 
 was the priestly tribe. The sons of Aaron were the high priests and 
 priests ; and the other Levites were their assistants. But the common 
 name Levites is sometimes made to cover the priests, as in this nar- 
 rative (Exod. xxviii. 1). For the duties of the Levites proper, see 
 Num. iv. " As the tabernacle was both the temple of God and the 
 palace of the great King, so the Levites were both priests and officers 
 of state." "It seems probable that the Levites all acted, when not 
 engaged in the temple service, as the instructors of the people : they 
 formed, in fact, the learned class." These ministers of religion were 
 thus distinct from the people ; and this was to be marked in their ma- 
 terial relation to the other tribes. " They were to have no territorial 
 possessions : in place of them they were to receive from the others 
 the tithes of the produce of the land," from which the Levites proper, 
 in their turn, " offered a tithe to the priests " " as a recognition of their 
 higher consecration" (Num. xviii. 21, 24). There were also assigned 
 to the Levites forty-eight cities in different parts of the country, 
 with a liberal allowance of land surrounding each (Num. xxxv. 1-8.) 
 Six of these cities were to be cities of refuge, where the Levites 
 would be the protectors of fugitives. Thus the priesthood, with its 
 sacred honors and duties, and the provision made for the maintenance 
 of its ministers, was a fitting inheritance for the Levites. On the 
 gift of Moses to Gad, Keuben, and the half of Manasseh, see Num. 
 xxxii. 33. 
 
 8. These men were selected by the people, but received their 
 instruction from Joshua, to whom they were to make their report 
 for his guidance. 
 
 9. They made a written description of the land in a book, making 
 the cities the centres of their accounts, and divided the land into seven 
 parts. This was no light work. It was not without its danger. Be- 
 sides that, " it required learning and intelligence, which their instruc- 
 tors had, in all probability, brought with them out of Egypt. , . . 
 
JOSHUA. 47 
 
 The circumstantial account which is given of the boundaries of each 
 tribe, and its situation, will prove it to have been the work of no mean 
 or incompetent hands." Josephus says that Joshua sent some men 
 skilled in geometry to aid in this work. 
 
 "And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord; and there Joshua 
 divided the land unto the children of Israel according to their divisions." — Josh. 
 xviii. 10. 
 
 10. The men returned with their description of the land, and thei* 
 division of it ; and Joshua proceeded to cast lots for its assignment 
 among the seven tribes. 
 
 We have, after this, an account of the territory assigned to each oi 
 these seven tribes. When this was done, the children of Israel made 
 provision for their great leader. " According to the word of the 
 Lord, they gave him the city which he asked, Timnath-serah in 
 Mount Ephraim ; and he built the city, and dwelt therein." There is 
 no distinct command or promise of this kind recorded. Caleb seems 
 to intimate that such a promise had been made in chap. xiv. 6. All 
 must have seen that Joshua was worthy of this distinction. The 
 site of his city cannot be determined. It was in the portion of Eph- 
 raim, and probably some ten or twelve miles south-west of Shiloh. 
 There Joshua was buried (chap. xxiv. 30). 
 
 " So they made an end of dividing the country." 
 
 PB ACTIO AX, THOUGHTS. 
 
 1. In all new settlements the sanctuary should be erected very 
 early. 
 
 2. In all the events of life we should make a prompt recognition of 
 God's goodness, and of our dependence upon him. 
 
 3. In dealing with men we should be very careful that every one 
 has all that he is entitled to. 
 
 4. The laborer is worthy of his hire, and that even when the labor 
 is in a sacred calling. 
 
 5. All talent and learning can be employed in the service of the 
 Lord. 
 
 6. We should generously remember those who serve us in high 
 offices, both for their work's sake and their own merit. 
 
48 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 Lesson X. — The Cities of Refuge. — Chap. xx. 1-9. 
 
 " The Lord also spake unto Joshua, saying, 
 
 " Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge, 
 whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses : 
 
 " That the slayer that killeth any person unawares, and unwittingly, may flee 
 thither : and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. 
 
 " And when he that doth nee unto one of those cities shall stand at the enter- 
 ing of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of 
 that city, they shall take him into the city unto them, and give him a place, that 
 he may dwell among them." — Josh. xx. 1-4. 
 
 1. Joshua was the leader still ; but he was under the direction of 
 the Lord. The will of the Lord was supreme law. The constitution 
 of the nation was of divine enactment. 
 
 2. The command to Moses is found in Exod. xxi. 13, and in Num. 
 xxxv., and Deut. xix. 1-13. 
 
 3. The design of these cities is now stated. The important words 
 are " unawares'' and "unwittingly." If a person wilfully killed 
 another, the law for his punishment was to take its course (Gen. 
 ix. 6). Though such a murderer should flee to one of these cities, he 
 should not have protection there (Deut. xix. 11-13). But there would 
 arise cases, where, by accident, one had taken the life of another. Be- 
 tween accidental and intentional homicide was a wide distinction, 
 which should be regarded in dealing with the person who had com- 
 mitted the act. Our own laws graduate the punishment for homicide 
 according to the circumstances under which the act was done. In 
 certain cases there would justly be no punishment. In some countries, 
 temples and altars, and even tombs, statues, and monuments, have 
 been made an asylum where criminals and debtors could shelter them- 
 selves from justice, and whence they could not be taken without a 
 violation of the sanctity of the place. The vilest criminals among the 
 ancient heathen could protect themselves in such places of refuge. 
 
 4. The protection given in the Jewish cities of refuge was on a dif- 
 ferent plan. The slayer was to be received and protected only under 
 prescribed rules. He was to stand at the gate of the city, and " de- 
 clare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city." If the elders 
 thought there was reasonable ground for giving him shelter, they 
 were to receive him, and let him dwell among them. He was thus 
 received only provisionally. 
 
 " And, if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the 
 slayer up into his hand ; because he smote his neighbor unwittingly, and hated 
 him not beforetime. 
 
JOSHUA. 49 
 
 " And he shall dwell in that, city until he stand before the congregation for 
 judgment, and until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days : then 
 shall the slayer return, and come unto his own city, and unto his own house, unto 
 the city from whence he fled." — Josh. xx. 5, 6. 
 
 5. If the "avenger of blood" should come to the city, and demand 
 the slayer, the elders were not at once to deliver him. They were to 
 stand between him and his accusers till he had been proved guilty of 
 wilful murder. 
 
 " The avenger of blood." The law of revenge is of great antiquity. 
 By barbarous usage it was a point of honor, "as rigorous as that of 
 modern duelling," for the nearest of kin to avenge the death of his rel- 
 ative. He was known as his goel, or blood avenger. This usage is 
 found among the Hebrews (see Gen. iv. 14, xxvii. 45; Num. xxxv. 12). 
 The principle is natural in a rude state of society, but is manifestly 
 liable to great abuses. "To mitigate the evils of a usage too firmly 
 established to be rooted out, Moses appointed certain cities of refuge 
 conveniently situated." "Human life, in all rude and barbarous 
 tribes, is of cheap account; blood is shed on the least provocation; 
 open or secret assassination is a common occurrence. The Hebrew 
 penal code enforced the highest respect for the life of man. . . . The 
 law demanded blood for blood ; but it transferred the exaction of the 
 penalty from private revenge, and committed it to judicial authority." 
 
 6. When the avenger should appear at the city, the accused man 
 was to be taken before "the congregation- in judgment;" that is, 
 before the local tribunal having jurisdiction in such matters. If it 
 was found that he had committed deliberate murder, he was to be 
 delivered to the avenger. If it was found that the homicide was acci- 
 dental or justifiable, he was to remain in the city, where he would be 
 safe. If he should go out of the city, and be found by the avenger, 
 he might be put to death (Num. xxxv. 26-28). 
 
 He was to remain in the city until the death of the high priest 
 (Num. xxxv. 25). "He was not, indeed, to be put to death; but he 
 was regarded as civilly dead until the death of the high priest. This 
 death was a kind of termination of a period. With the death of the 
 supreme judge was the remembrance of the deed committed during 
 his term of office to be wiped away." 
 
 If the slayer survived the high priest, he was at liberty to return to 
 his own city. "And the Jews say, if he died before the high priest, 
 in the city of his refuge and exile, and was buried there, yet, at the 
 death of the high priest, his bones should be removed with respect to 
 the place of his fathers' sepulchres." 
 5 
 
50 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 " And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee, in Mount Naphtali, and Shechem in 
 Mount Ephraim, and Kirjath-arba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah. 
 
 "And on the other side Jordan, by Jericho, eastward, they assigned Bezer in 
 the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead 
 out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh. 
 
 "These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the 
 stranger that sojourneth among them ; that whosoever killeth any person at un- 
 awares might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he 
 stood before the congregation." — Josh. xx. 7-9. 
 
 7. The cities of refuge were included among the cities of the 
 Levites. It was proper that they should be in different parts of 
 the country. Three were on. each side of the Jordan. 
 
 On the west of the river were Kedesh, in Galilee, at the north, a 
 place of great antiquity; Shechem, or Sichem, in Mount Ephraim, 
 between Ebal and Gerizim (Gen. xii. 6); and Kirjath-arba, which is 
 Hebron, in Judah, at the south (chap. xiv. 13-15 ; Gen. xxiii. 2). 
 
 8. On the east of the river were Bezer at the south, Kamoth in 
 the middle, and Golan at the north. These three cities were secured 
 by Moses for this purpose, as we find in Deut. iv. 41-43. 
 
 9. These cities were provided not only for the children of Israel, 
 but for " the stranger that sojourneth among them." The design 
 was to protect the guiltless, and to insure to every man who had 
 killed another a fair trial with the due form of law. In this pro- 
 vision, as in others, we see the wise legislator and the humane man 
 bringing the undisciplined people under his charge into a settled state, 
 where each one should be protected in his right to "life, liberty, and 
 the pursuit of happiness," and a well-ordered nation should be estab- 
 lished for the good of the whole world. 
 
 In these cities of refuge we cannot fail to see the type of the protec- 
 tion given in Christ (Heb. vi. 18). 
 
 At the close of this portion of the history, read chap. xxi. 43-45. 
 
 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 
 
 1. Wrong-doers should be punished. 
 
 2. The wrong-doer is entitled to a fair trial, and to be heard in his 
 own defence. 
 
 3. The circumstances of an act have much to do in determining its 
 character. 
 
JOSHUA. 51 
 
 4. We deserve punishment for our sins. 
 
 5. There is ample protection in Christ. Though we are fully 
 guilty, and without excuse, there is safety in him. 
 
 6. But, if we do not flee to this city of refuge, punishment will 
 overtake us, and we shall be speechless. 
 
 Lesson XI. — The Altar of Witness. — Chap. xxii. 21-27. 
 
 The tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half of Manasseh, were 
 dismissed with a blessing to their home beyond the Jordan. When 
 they came to the borders of the river, apparently before they crossed, 
 they built a great altar. This immediately excited the other tribes, 
 who were jealous for the honor of God, and fearful of bringing judg- 
 ments upon the whole nation. They gathered themselves together 
 at Shiloh to go up to war against their eastern brethren. They were 
 very prompt. But they saw that it would be right to inquire of those 
 who had angered them, for what reason they had built the altar, and 
 to remonstrate with them against so perilous a deed. Accordingly 
 they sent a deputation, consisting of the son of the high priest, and 
 ten eminent men from the different tribes, to confer with the offend- 
 ing tribes. They made their remonstrance in strong terms (vers. 
 16-20), crowning their appeal with Achan's sad story. 
 
 " Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of 
 Manasseh answered, and said unto the heads of the thousands of Israel, 
 
 " The Lord God of gods, the Lord God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall 
 know ; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the Lord (save us not 
 this day)." — Josh. xxii. 21, 22. 
 
 21. Then the accused tribes made answer. Not resenting the 
 charge, but explaining their act, they replied in terms of great dignity 
 and strength. 
 
 22. They were charged with rebelling against the Lord. They 
 made their appeal to him: "The Lord God of gods, the Lord God 
 of gods, he knoweth." This repetition gave great weight to their 
 words. They meant to make a solemn protestation. Not in re- 
 bellion, not in transgression, had they reared the altar. By the truth 
 of their words, and the purity of their thoughts, they were willing to 
 be judged. "Save us not this day" is equivalent to "So help me 
 God," which closes the oath as administered in our courts. They 
 
52 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 called Hira to witness, who knew their hearts, and whose honor was 
 in question. It is possible, that, in building the altar, they remem- 
 bered the altar reared by Moses at Jehoyah-nissi (Exod. xvii. 15). 
 
 " That we have built us an altar to turn from following the Lord, or if to 
 offer thereon burnt offering or meat offering, or if to offer peace offerings thereon, 
 let the Lord himself require it; 
 
 " And if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing, saying, In time to 
 come your children might speak unto our children, saying, What have ye to do 
 with the Lord God of Israel? 
 
 "For the Lord hath made Jordan a border between us and you, ye children 
 of Reuben and children of Gad; ye have no part In the Lord: so shall your 
 children make our children cease. from fearing the Lord. 
 
 " Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt 
 offering, nor for sacrifice : 
 
 •'But that it may be a witness between us, and you, and our generations 
 after us, that we might do the service of the Lord before him with our burnt 
 offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings ; that your children 
 may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in the Lord." — 
 Josh. xii. 23-27. 
 
 23. They had not made their altar because they would turn from 
 the Lord, or offer their offerings upon it, and not at Shiloh, where 
 were the tabernacle and the ark. If they had done this, let the Lord 
 bring them to account for it. 
 
 24. It was with the opposite feeling they had built the altar. They 
 feared that they might become separated from the Lord, who was 
 equally the God of all the tribes. They might come to be treated as 
 strangers and aliens. The children of the western tribes, having the 
 tabernacle with them, might say unto their eastern kinsmen, " What 
 have ye to do with the Lord God of Israel? '' 
 
 25. The descendants of Judah and Ephraim might tell the descend- 
 ants of Reuben and Gad, " Ye have no part in the Lord." The river 
 rolling between the tribes might be made a spiritual, as it was a 
 physical barrier between them. Taunted with this, feeling them- 
 selves cut off by the Jordan, dwelling in a place of their own, it 
 might come to pass that the eastern tribes would lose their interest 
 in the western, become jealous of them, cease to worship with them, 
 and even disown their God. 
 
 26. Therefore, to prevent this, they had built an altar, "JSot for 
 burnt offering, nor for sacrifice." 
 
 27. But for a witness between the present generations, and between 
 
JOSHUA. 53 
 
 those who should succeed to their places (see Gen. xxxi. 48; chap. 
 xxiv. 27). This altar would show that they were the Lord's people. 
 If this was ever questioned, they would point to these witnessing 
 stones. Thus keeping themselves faitliful to God, and securing the 
 like fidelity on the part of their children, the eastern tribes would go 
 at the stated times across the river, and with their kindred offer the 
 established sacrifices in the common sanctuary of the one nation. It 
 should be said by the children, " Behold the pattern of the altar of 
 the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for * 
 sacrifices ; but it is a witness between us and you." 
 
 This noble reply satisfied Phinehas the priest, and his associates ; 
 and they said, " This day we perceive that the Lord is among us." 
 When they returned to those who had sent them, " the thing pleased 
 the children of Israel." And the altar stood as a witness that the 
 Lord is God. 
 
 The fact that the Lord is God, recognized and worshipped, was at 
 the bottom of the difference between the Israelites and all surround- 
 ing nations. It was the fundamental fact in their faith and practice, 
 
 PEACTICAL THOUGHTS. 
 
 1. It is well to be jealous for the honor of God. 
 
 2. It is well to reason with one who has offended us, before we 
 make war upon him. 
 
 3. " A soft answer turneth away wrath." 
 
 4. When we are convinced of our mistake, it is manly to acknowl- 
 edge it. 
 
 Lesson XII. — Joshua's Warning. — Chap, xxiii. 11-16. 
 
 The last two chapters of this book are chiefly made up of the parting 
 addresses of Joshua to his people. This close corresponds to that of 
 the books of Moses. There are two addresses, given on different 
 occasions. " In the former, Joshua briefly reminds the princes of ;he 
 recent benefits of God towards them and their people, declares that 
 God had fulfilled all his promises, and exhorts to faithfulness on their 
 side to God, that so his mercies may not be withdrawn : in the latter, 
 the orator takes a wider range, rehearses the gracious dealings of God 
 with the nation from its very origin, and, upon these as his grounds, 
 
54 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 he claims for God tlieir sincere and entire service. But he grants 
 them the option of withdrawing from the covenant, if they so choose ; 
 and, when they elect still to abide by it, it is solemnly renewed by the 
 free consent of the whole people." 
 
 6 i Joshua waxed old, and stricken in age." He called to him the 
 elders and heads and judges and officers of Israel. To them he 
 spoke of what God had done, and exhorted them to be courageous in 
 their obedience to the law of Moses, to keep themselves aloof from 
 * the heathen nations around them, and to have nothing to do with their 
 gods, but to cleave unto the Lord their God. Then would he make 
 their way prosperous, and they should have great success. 
 
 " Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the 'Lord your God." 
 — Josh, xxiii. 11. 
 
 11. They would need to be watchful ; for from within and from 
 without would come temptations to turn away from the Lord. Josh- 
 ua well knew this from the past history of the people. Because 
 every thing depended on their allegiance to God, they were to take 
 good heed unto themselves, and keep their hearts with all diligence. 
 It would seem, that, after all which God had done for them, they could 
 never forsake him. But such has not been the fact. Men have 
 shown themselves but too ready to forget the unseen God, and be gods 
 to themselves, and to fall in with the spirit of a world which has 
 rebelled against him. Such a course is perilous ; if persisted in, dis- 
 astrous. " The Lord, whose name is jealous, is a jealous God." 
 
 God would not be content with a formal service : he demands the 
 heart. Spirit himself, he calls for spirit; and only in spirit and in 
 truth can he be worshipped. The call for love is found thus early in 
 the Old Testament. These ancient Scriptures are not severe, exacting, 
 ceremonial. The two commandments into which Christ condensed 
 the law are found in the law as given by Moses (see Dent. vi. 5, 
 also x. 12, xi. 1, 13, 22, xix. 9, xxx. 6, and Lev. xix. 18, 34). If 
 the children of Israel loved God sincerely, they would do his will. 
 When thoughts of self-interest had failed, affection would keep them 
 true to his commandments. In enjoining love for God, Joshua pro- 
 vided for the worship and service which are required by him. If 
 they loved God, they would not go after the gods of the nations : 
 they would preserve the name of the Lord, and transmit it to the 
 generations to come. 
 
 " Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these 
 nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, 
 and go in unto them, and they to you : 
 
JOSHUA. 55 
 
 "Know for a certainty that the Lord your God will no more drive out any of 
 these nations from before you ; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and 
 scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good 
 land which the Lord your God hath given you." — Josh, xxiii. 12, 13. 
 
 12. In regard to marriages with the alien nations, see Exod. xxxiv. 
 12-16, Deut. vii. 3-5. Such alliances would result in idolatry. The 
 daughters of the heathen would draw the sons of Israel away from 
 their integrity, if such connections were tolerated. If the home be- 
 came unfaithful, the very source of the religious life of the people 
 would be poisoned. The only safety for Israel was in breaking down 
 the heathen altars, and keeping themselves a peculiar and separate 
 people, holy unto the Lord. 
 
 13. If they forsook the Lord, they would withdraw from his protec- 
 tion. The rule afterwards pronounced declared a fundamental prin- 
 ciple: " Them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me 
 shall be lightly esteemed " (1 Sam. ii. 30). With this rule no one 
 could find fault. If the people cared so little for God, that they would 
 serve false divinities, preferring them to him, choosing their law 
 above his, they could not wonder if he left them to reap according to 
 their sowing. To be consistent, they could not complain of the with- 
 drawal of favor by one for whose favor they had so small regard. 
 There was no need of running after strange peoples and strange gods, 
 and no excuse for it. 
 
 If the children of Israel came under the influence of the nations, 
 they would be exposed to temptations against which they would not 
 stand. They would be snared and entrapped. Before they were 
 aware of it, they would be led into sin (see Exod. xxiii. 33). They 
 would be plagued" by them, and because of them. Sin would lead to 
 trouble and disaster. The heathen would be as scourges and thorns 
 (see Num. xxxiii. 55). The punishment prepared for the heathen 
 would be visited upon apostate Israel (Kum. xxxiii. 56). 
 
 "And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth; and ye know in all 
 your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good 
 things which the Lord your God spake concerning you ; all are come to pass unto 
 you, and not one thing hath failed thereof." —Josh, xxiii. 14. 
 
 14. This warning was given by an old man, a pilgrim whose jour- 
 ney was almost ended. He could have no selfish motive in seeking 
 to keep the people true to his God and theirs. 
 
 He was in a position where sincere words might be looked for. 
 After a long life in God's service, trusting and proving his words, he 
 was able to testify concerning them. 
 
56 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 But they also knew, for they were not strangers to the promises of 
 God. "With perfect confidence he appealed to the people: " Ye know 
 in all your hearts and in all your souls." Mark the solemn reiter- 
 ation in his words. He was full of the thought and feeling he was 
 trying to convey. There could be hut one answer to Joshua's appeal. 
 The past, the present, witnessed for God. The very position of those 
 whose fathers had so recently been brought from the house of bondage, 
 and the steps by which they had come to the land long before given 
 to Abraham and his seed, were a living testimony which should pre- 
 vent the people from forgetting the Lord. The Canaanites were not 
 utterly destroyed, for it was not the divine purpose that they should 
 suddenly be annihilated ; but they were under" the hand of Israel, and 
 were disheartened, reduced in strength, holding only certain isolated 
 spots here and there, from which they could be driven at any time 
 when the desire and daring of the people would employ the divine 
 force which had thus far subdued their enemies. The land was se- 
 curely in the possession of the Israelites, as they had been promised 
 it should be (see chap. xxi. 43-45). 
 
 " Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, 
 which the Lord your God promised you, so shall the Lord bring upon you all evil 
 things, until he hare destroyed you from off this good land which the Lord your 
 God hath given you. 
 
 " When ye have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God, which he 
 commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to 
 them, then shall the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and ye shall perish 
 quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you." — Josh, xxiii. 
 15, 16. 
 
 15. The past illumines the future. The purpose of God had been 
 distinctly made known. As it had been, so it should be. The con- 
 trast of blessings and curses had already been heard at Ebal and Geri- 
 zim (see chap. viii. 34, 35; also Deut. xxviii.). They knew the end 
 of the two ways before them. Thus far they had been blessed. The 
 word of God on that side was proved true. So should the evil things 
 come, if the people placed themselves where they could fall upon 
 them. The end would be their destruction from the good land into 
 which they had been brought. 
 
 16. The promises of the Lord were in a covenant. They were not 
 unconditional. He would bless, as he had created and preserved. 
 But if the people forgot him, and went after other gods, and served 
 them, the covenant would be annulled. This was fair. If they 
 would not have God, why should God have them? If other gods 
 were worth serving, let the other gods protect their worshippers. 
 
JOSHUA. 57 
 
 Would the people go from the stronger to the weaker ? By leaving 
 the Lord, they expressed their preference for other powers. Let them 
 seek their blessings where they made their vows, where they bowed 
 their heads. Moreover, this was necessary. The best gifts of God 
 are spiritual. He gives them to the heart. If the heart is closed 
 against him, if the freedom of manhood is used in shutting out the 
 Creator, he is still kind and righteous when he withdraws his favor. 
 God has self-respect. All gifts, but pre-eminently spiritual gifts, re- 
 quire a recipient and a reception, as well as a giver. If man will not 
 take, he does not have. 
 
 But, besides all the rest, man ought to serve the Lord. It is not 
 left to his choice. He cannot fail to serve God, and not be base and 
 guilty and condemned. God is his Maker. He lives upon God's 
 bounty: he ought to serve him, not because of reward for service, or 
 punishment for neglect, but because nothing less, nothing else, is right. 
 Men ought in all things to do God's will. If they will not do this, 
 they may justly be punished. God will be good, and they will perish. 
 Existence will be endless ; but it had been good for those who endure 
 it, if they had never been born. 
 
 For a special purpose, the Israelites had been brought into the land 
 of Canaan. Their mission in the world is peculiar; and through 
 them ail the world is blessed. With the New Testament in our hands 
 we understand this. But the work of Israel was conditioned upon 
 obedience to the Lord. By bringing them into the land, he had 
 shown himself able to carry out his purposes through them : he had 
 also shown that he had no need of them. He who could do *so much 
 for them could do what he would without them. From the very stones 
 beneath their feet he could raise up children unto Abraham, and by 
 them he could reveal himself to the world as the Lord of hosts, the 
 Father of men, and the Saviour of sinners. Let no man think himself 
 indispensable to God ; let no nation. 
 
 Note in how many ways the fearful results of going after other 
 gods are set forth. The nations shall be snares and traps, scourges 
 for the sides, thorns for the eyes. Blessings shall cease. Curses 
 shall fall. The anger of the Lord shall be kindled ; and the rebellious 
 people shall perish quickly, arO. be destroyed from off the good land. 
 The loss of the land they haa gained through so much tribulation 
 was the crowning feature of their punishment. Just as they were 
 settling down in places they could call their own, there rose before 
 them the prospect of losing all. Yet how easy to retaiu all ! Would 
 they be true to the Lord their God ? 
 
58 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 
 
 1. We ought to give great care to our religious duties. 
 
 2. We ought to love God. 
 
 3. If we love God, his yoke will be easy, his burden light. 
 
 4. If we do not live for God, we should not expect his blessing. 
 
 5. If we do not love God, we are guilty, and shall be punished. 
 
 6. The knowledge of God's goodness and truthfulness should 
 make us trust him implicitly. 
 
 7. We should never feel ourselves so sure of God's blessing that we 
 neglect to be thankful and obedient. 
 
 Lesson XIII. — God's Mercies to Israel (Kevtew). — Chap. 
 
 xxiv. 1-13. 
 
 After Joshua had instructed the leaders by themselves, he addressed 
 the people. 
 
 "And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Sheehem, and called for the 
 elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers ; 
 and they presented themselves before God. 
 
 " And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your 
 fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of 
 Abraham, and the father of Nachor ; and they served other gods. 
 
 "And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led 
 him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him 
 Isaac. 
 
 "And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau; and I gave unto Esau Mount Seir, 
 to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt." — Josh. xxiv. 
 
 1. Sheehem was a fitting place for this gathering, being between 
 Ebal and Gerizim, where the covenant, with its blessings and curses, 
 had been rehearsed. The earlier history of Sheehem made it a place 
 singularly appropriate for the transaction now to be described. The 
 elders and hsads and judges and officers had been addressed before 
 (chap, xxiii. 2). " Before God" is literally before Elohim. In his 
 sight his mercies were to be solemnly set forth. 
 
 2. Joshua spoke in the name of the Lord, in whose presence all 
 were waiting. It is not likely that every person was present, but 
 that there was a very large representation from each tribe. Joshua 
 
JOSHUA. 59 
 
 went back to very early times. " The flood " was the River Euphrates. 
 There lived Abram and his ancestors. Thence came Abram to be the 
 father of a new people. His ancestors and companions worshipped 
 strange gods. But Abram knew the Lord, and was obedient to his 
 will. 
 
 3. This verse brings us from the call of Abram to the birth of 
 Isaac. Abram was found among idolaters, but was separated from 
 them. "He went out, not knowing whither he went." The Lord's 
 purpose would be disclosed by degrees. Meanwhile, Abram had 
 faith in God, and won the name, "the friend of God." 
 
 4. We are brought on to the descent into Egypt by Jacob and his 
 children. Mount Seir was south-east from Canaan, — a mountain- 
 ridge running on the east side of the Valley of Arabah, from the Dead 
 Sea, nearly to the Gulf of Akabah. The family of Esau had their 
 possessions there. But Jacob's family went to-Egypt; not to possess 
 it, but to be possessed by it : not to the free life of Esau and his chil- 
 dren, but to a long and hard bondage. 
 
 " I sent Moses also, and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I 
 did among them ; and afterward I brought you out. 
 
 " And I brought your fathers out of Egypt ; and ye came unto the sea : and the 
 Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen into the Red 
 Sea. 
 
 " And, when they cried unto the Lord, he put darkness between you and the 
 Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes 
 have seen what I have done in Egypt : and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long sea- 
 son. 
 
 " And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other 
 side Jordan ; and they fought with you : and I gave them into your hand, that ye 
 might possess their land : and I destroyed them from before you. 
 
 " Then Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, 
 and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you : 
 
 " But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I 
 delivered you out of his hand. 
 
 "And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho; and the men of Jericho 
 fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the 
 Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered 
 them into your hand." — Josh. xxiv. 5-11. 
 
 5. But they were not left in that strange land. God raised up Moses 
 and Aaron ; and, at the cost of plagues and death to the Egyptians, 
 he brought his own covenant people out. 
 
 6. He brought them out, and showed his power, and his regard for 
 them, by dividing the Red Sea, that they might pass through to the 
 promised land. 
 
60 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 7. But the haughty, angry, idolatrous Egyptians pursued them, and 
 would have retaken and oppressed them ; hut hy his might, when his 
 people called upon him in their peril, he drowned their enemies in the 
 sea, while their feet pressed the farther shore. It was a long time that 
 they remained in the wilderness. Why it was so long, they were not 
 told at this time. How delicately their sin and rebellion w T ere passed 
 over in this narrative ! A sad story of shame and loss and death lies 
 under the simple words, "Ye dwelt in the wilderness a long sea- 
 son." 
 
 8. The Amorites opposed their march to the land they sought. But 
 the Amorites fell before them ; and they marched on to conquest. 
 
 9. Balak warred against Israel, and called Balaam to curse Israel. 
 But they could not prevail ; for the Lord was on the side of Israel. 
 
 10. The curses of Balaam became blessings ; and Israel was deliv- 
 ered out of the hand of the king of Moab. 
 
 11. The hand of the Lord held back the waters of the Jordan, and 
 Israel passed through. Jericho fell before them ; and the nations 
 which dwelt in the land were not able to withstand them. These 
 nations are mentioned in Deut. vii. 1, and in chap. iii. 10. They were 
 "greater and mightier" than Israel; but Israel prevailed against 
 them by the hand of the Lord: " I delivered them into your hand." 
 
 The previous wonders wrought by the Lord for Israel terrified the 
 kings of the land so that " their heart melted " (chap. v. 1). In their 
 turn, they found the same frown directed against themselves. 
 
 " And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, 
 even the two kings of the Amorites ; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow. 
 
 " And I have given you a land for which ye did not labor, and cities which ye 
 built not, and ye dwell in them : of the vineyards and olive-yards which ye planted 
 not, do ye eat.*' — Josh. xxiv. 12, 13. 
 
 12. Of the hornet we read in Exod. xxiii. 28, Deut. vii. 20. 
 Whether this is to be understood as meaning actual hornets is 
 quite doubtful, though some hold that opinion. " Two instances 
 occur in Eastern history, of an immense swarm of insects contrib- 
 uting to the decision of a battle." But, in the direct narrative of 
 the conquest of Canaan, we have no mention of hornets. It seems 
 most likely that the word is used to denote the different instruments 
 and visitations by which the Lord secured the defeat and destruction 
 of the nations. The two kings of the Amorites are named in Deut. 
 
JOSHUA. 61 
 
 xxxi. 4, as Sihon and Og. Not Israel's might, but the Lord's, over- 
 came the kings. 
 
 13. Eead Deut. vi. 10, 11. The heathen possessed the land, where 
 they had built cities, and planted vineyards and olive-yards. The 
 land, with these improvements, the Lord had given to his own peo- 
 ple : " I have given you." 
 
 Thus we have a long record of mercies from the call of Abram to 
 the settling of his descendants in the land given to him for them. 
 The very recital of the names of men and places is attesting to the 
 might of the Lord God of Israel, and to his regard for his people, and 
 to his fidelity to his promises. By these mercies Israel should learn 
 to have a perfect reliance upon his word, and render an unvarying 
 allegiance to his commandments. 
 
 We who now have his promises, reaching into the future we are 
 entering, should learn from the experience of the Israelites to have a 
 large faith and a strong courage. 
 
 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 
 
 1. Exod. xx. 1-6. 
 
 2. 2 Pet. iii. 9; John iii. 16. 
 
 3. Kev. xxii. 14. 
 
 4. Ps. cvii. 8. 
 
62 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 SECOND QUARTER OF 1875. 
 
 Lesson I. — Israel's Promise. — Chap. xxiv. 14-18. 
 
 When Joshua had rehearsed before the people the mercies of the 
 Lord, and the signal favors he had given them, he sought by this 
 recollection of God's goodness to lead them to make a new covenant 
 with God. 
 
 " Now, therefore, fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth ; and 
 put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and 
 in Egypt, and serve ye the Lord." — Josh. xxiv. 14. 
 
 14. "Now, therefore." Because of what God has done, let him 
 be treated with supreme honor and affection. Let him alone be 
 served. Let other gods be put away. It appears that there were 
 " strange gods " among them, the images of heathen divinities (ver. 23 ; 
 Gen. xxxi. 80, 34, 35, xxxv. 2, 4). The people were thought to be in- 
 clined towards the gods of their Chaldsean ancestors, or the divinities 
 which some of their fathers had reverenced in Egypt ; for the idolatry 
 which surrounded them in Egypt must have had some effect over 
 those who were weakest in their allegiance to Jehovah. This regard 
 for false gods was to be relinquished. They had been forbidden to 
 make any likeness of God. What low images the people had were 
 to be cast away. The Lord alone, the unseen God, was to be wor- 
 shipped and served in sincerity and truth. The gods which Jacob 
 received from his household (Gen. xxxv. 2, 4) he hid " under the oak 
 which was by Shechem." Earlier than that, Abram had tarried at an 
 oak by Shechem, and had built an altar there (Gen. xii. 6, 7). Per- 
 haps the oak of Abram and Jacob was the same one which is men- 
 tioned here in verse 26. There was certainly an appropriateness in 
 renewing the covenant with God on this spot. 
 
 " And. if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye 
 will serve ; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other 
 side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell : but, as for 
 me and my house, we will serve the Lord. 
 
 " And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord 
 to serve other gods ; 
 
 " For the Lord our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the 
 land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our 
 sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people 
 through whom we passed. 
 
JOSHUA. 63 
 
 " And the Lord drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites 
 which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the Lord; for he is our 
 God." — Josh. xxiv. 15-18. 
 
 15. The people were called upon to make a choice. If it seemed 
 inexpedient and wrong to serve the Lord, let them leave him, and 
 devote themselves to the Chaldaean divinities, or those of the Amorites 
 who were near at hand. Let them make an intelligent choice, and 
 then abide by it (see Deut. xxx. 15-20). Not that it would be right 
 or wise to prefer another before the Lord ; but it would be as well 
 to do so in form as in spirit. Let them bring their profession and 
 practice into harmony. " But, as for me and my house, we will serve 
 the Lord." 
 
 16. The people were prompt in adopting the resolution which Joshua 
 had declared. In a solemn form they announced their purpose to 
 have nothing to do with the gods of the nations around them, but to 
 serve the Lord alone. They could come to no decision but this. If 
 they remembered the mercy or the might of God, still more, when 
 they remembered both, they could not hesitate to declare their alle- 
 giance to him, and their dependence upon him. 
 
 17. "For." What God had done for their fathers and for them in 
 all the way from Egypt to Canaan gave him a claim they could not 
 and would not disown. To trust other gods was to leave the stronger 
 for the weaker, to desert the friend for the enemy, to imperil all they 
 had gained by forgetting him who had given it. 
 
 18. They were in the land where their enemies had lived, in their 
 cities and olive-yards, because God had blessed them. Well might 
 they say, " We will serve the Lord; for he is our God." 
 
 Joshua warned the people of their danger, if they forgot these vows, 
 and that the Lord whom they chose to serve would require a faithful 
 service. But they were firm in the choice. He made them witnesses 
 to their covenant, and they said, " We are witnesses." They were de- 
 cided : they were honest. 
 
 The covenant was made, and a statute and ordinance set for the 
 people in Shechem. The transaction was recorded by Joshua " in the 
 book of the law of God " (see Deut. xxxi. 24-26). And Joshua set up 
 a great stone under an oak by the sanctuary, in memory of the choice 
 and vow and covenant which were made (see Gen. xxviii. 18) : so 
 the stone was a witness unto them all. Then every man departed 
 unto his inheritance. 
 
64 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 The work of Joshua was done. He was a hundred and ten years 
 old. He died. " They buried him in the border of his inheritance, 
 in Timnath-serah " (chap. xix. 50; Judg. ii. 9). For a long time 
 the influence of this great good man remained ; and the people con- 
 tinued to serve the Lord, remembering his works " that he had done 
 for Israel." 
 
 The series of lessons in the first quarter is a fitting introduction to 
 the confession of Joshua and the choice and covenant of the people 
 at Shechem. 
 
 As we now pass from this book, let us note some of the leading 
 events we have studied. 
 
 Joshua took up his work at the call of the Lord, who encouraged 
 him with large promises, and enjoined the keeping of the law. Start- 
 ing in this way, after the life in the wilderness, under a new leader, 
 the host crossed the Jordan on dry land, and reared stones in 
 memory of the miracle. They made ready for the conquest of 
 the land; and Jericho fell into their hands by the power of the 
 Lord. Achan's sin caused their defeat at Ai; but, when the sin 
 had been punished, success returned. Once fairly in the land, the 
 blessings and curses were renewed at Ebal and Gerizim. Then the 
 land was divided. Caleb had the portion which he chose. The 
 tribes received their portion. Joshua had his part. The priests were 
 cared for. Cities of refuge were appointed. The tribes on the two 
 sides of the Jordan declared their common devotion to the one true 
 God. The people were warned against turning from him who had so 
 signally blessed them, and whose just anger would be their destruc- 
 tion. The people, with their illustrious leader, announced their 
 allegiance to the Lord God of Israel. Then Joshua rested from his 
 labors. This was, according to the usual reckoning, B.C. 1427. Read 
 Ps. xxxvii. 37. 
 
 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 
 
 l."We ought to have one Lord. 
 
 2. The God who made us, in whose hands our life is, and our 
 breath, should be served by us. ^ We should refuse to accept his gifts, 
 or constantly thank him while we take them. 
 
 3. The Lord requires a sincere and constant service. 
 
 4. We can serve God faithfully in our will and purpose, at least ; 
 and for our sins we can seek forgiveness. 
 
JUDGES. 65 
 
 5. Our vows are all recorded: "Ye are witnesses against y our- 
 selves/ ' 
 
 JUDGES. 
 
 Lesson II. — The Promise broken. — Chap. ii. 11-16. 
 
 " We are now arrived at the last stage of the first period of the his- 
 tory of the chosen people. . . . The conquest was over ; but the up- 
 heavings of the conquered population still continued. . . . Nearly the 
 whole of the seacoast, all the strongholds in the rich plain of Esdrae- 
 lon and in the heart of the country, the invincible fortress of Jebus, 
 were still in the hands of the unbelievers. . . . Slowly, gradually, the 
 dominion of the chosen people was left to work its way. . . . ' There 
 was no king in Israel,' no fixed capital, no fixed sanctuary, no fixed 
 government. . . . The office, which gives its name to the period, well 
 describes it. It was occasional, irregular, uncertain, yet gradually 
 tending to fixedness and perpetuity. Its title itself is expressive. 
 The ruler was not regal ; but he was more than the head of a tribe, or 
 the mere judge of special cases." — Stanley's Jewish Church. 
 
 " The period of the judges is the heroic age of Hebrew history. It 
 abounds in wild adventure and desperate feats of individual valor. 
 . . . The office of the Hebrew judge was rather that of the mili- 
 tary dictator, raised on an emergency to the command of the national 
 forces. . . . The judges were of different tribes, and seem to have 
 arisen, and to have been summoned to power and authority, according 
 to the exigencies of the time." — Milmaris History of the Jews. 
 
 The Book of Judges is in three parts. First is the preface ; next 
 the principal narrative of the judges and their deeds; and at the 
 close is an appendix containing an account of the worship of Micah's 
 graven image, and also of the civil war with Benjamin. The period 
 covered by the book is usually reckoned at about three hundred years. 
 The author is not known. Jewish tradition ascribes the book to 
 Samuel. 
 
 " In this book we are authoritatively taught what the moral causes 
 were, in the instances recorded in it, which led to the fall and rising 
 again of Israel. The book is a record of the righteousness, the 
 faithfulness, and the mercy of God. ... It holds out to us in figures 
 the mighty victory of Christ over all his foes, and so stimulates our 
 own hope of sharing his victory, and being partakers of his kingdom, 
 where all enemies are put under his feet." 
 
 In this chapter, at the eighth verse, we have the death of Joshua, 
 which was recorded at the close of the book bearing his name. Th(i 
 6* 
 
66 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 date, as before given, is B.C. 1427. The title " servant of the Lord ' 
 is especially given to Moses. In the Book of Chronicles and later 
 writings, we find the name, " servant of God." Joshna is called the 
 "servant of the Lord" only here and in the corresponding passage 
 (Josh. xxiv. 29). 
 
 Again we have the account of his burial, of which we have read in 
 the Book of Joshua. The place of burial was of great moment in the 
 eyes of the Eastern peoples. Among the wandering tribes, often 
 the only places which they could appoint for a meeting were the 
 graves of their chieftains. At a later time, and among Christians, 
 the place where a holy man was interred has been held sacred. Men 
 have accounted it a special privilege to be buried near one who had 
 been a man of G-od, cherishing the idea of companionship at the 
 resurrection. The grave of Joshua was a memorial of his life, and 
 of that which God had wrought by his hand. It was fitting that it 
 should be well known, and marked for coming generations. The 
 place of Joshua's grave cannot now be identified. Two names are 
 given to the place, — here, " Timnath-heres : " in Josh. xix. 50 and 
 xxiv. 30, it is "Tinmath-serah." It is possible that "heres" may 
 be a corrupt form of " serah," made by a transposition of letters. 
 The Jewish writers prefer the form "Timnath-heres." 
 
 But it was not the leader alone who died. 
 
 The greater part of those who were adults at the entrance into 
 Canaan passed away, as had those who were before them. They were 
 "pilgrims and strangers," even though they dwelt in their own 
 land. How beautiful and suggestive the phrase "were gathered 
 unto their fathers"! We have also the expressions, "Thou shalt 
 sleep with thy fathers" (Deut. xxxi. 16); "Thou shalt go to thy 
 fathers " (Gen. xv. 15) ; "David . . . fell on sleep, and was laid unto 
 his fathers " (Acts xiii. 36) ; " Abraham . . . was gathered to his 
 people" (Gen. xxv. 8): so were Isaac and Jacob. To have a genera- 
 tion pass away would have been of less account, if their successors 
 had inherited their religion, and kept their covenant. But those who 
 came upon the stage knew not the Lord ; knew him not as the one 
 God who was to be served ; knew him not in their hearts, with obe- 
 dience and love. They heard the tale of deliverance which made 
 them a nation ; but they did not confess the goodness of God, and 
 make the due return in thankfulness and obedience. God and his 
 works were as though they knew them not. The warning which 
 Joshua had given was forgotten. The vows of the people were 
 renounced. When their leader was withdrawn, their fidelity disap- 
 peared. They needed to be led and held up, like children. They 
 could not go alone. 
 
JUDGES. 67 
 
 Let us see here the dependence of a people upon their religious 
 teachers and institutions. We think ourselves well established in 
 Christianity ; yet take away the church and its ministers, give up the 
 Bible, the sabbath, and the sabbath school, and there is much reason 
 to fear that before long we should become a godless nation. Infideli- 
 ty would take the place of religion. This would not prove that 
 Christianity is not divine, but that we are weak, and need the helps 
 which God in his wisdom has ordained for our use. 
 
 The promise given in Josh. xxiv. 16-18 was soon forgotten. 
 
 " And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served 
 Baalim : 
 
 "And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of 
 the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were 
 round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to 
 anger." — Judg. ii. 11, 12. 
 
 11. "Did evil in the sight of the Lord." This means they were 
 guilty of idolatry. It is a common expression for this infidelity 
 (see chap. iii. 7, 12, iv. 1, vi. 1, x. 6; 1 Kings xiv. 22, 23; 2 Chron. 
 xii. 14). This "was the greatest of evils; for their supreme duty was 
 to God, and this they disowned. In the train of this leading dis- 
 obedience would easily come a host of evils. 
 
 Baalim is the plural form of Baal. This form is found in other 
 places (see chap. x. 10; 1 Kings xviii. 18; Jer. ix. 14). 
 
 12. They could not get away from the Lord. They were fed by his 
 hand. His mercy kept them in life. There is not an atheist in the 
 world, not an irreligious person, who is not sustained by the mercy 
 of the very One whom he denies. But they put God out of their 
 thoughts, and ceased to obey him and worship him. 
 
 The gods they followed had done nothing for them ; but they chose 
 those gods, though they had clone nothing even to protect those who 
 trusted in them. The God of Israel had again and again put to flight 
 the Canaanites and their divinities. The worthlessness of these false 
 gods was proved. Yet, in the face of all this, the Israelites forgot all 
 that God had done, all that Baal had not done; forgot their duty; 
 forgot their dependence, and bowed themselves before the gods of the 
 people that were round about them. How could they do this ? It 
 was because their hearts were not right towards God. The lesson of 
 history is, that men do not like to serve God. They want to have 
 their own way, or to fall in with the course of this world. They 
 
68 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 know this is wrong ; they confess its folly ; but they bow themselves 
 before themselves and the gods of this world. It is the sad fact, 
 which the Bible asserts, and which is fearfully proved. Men do not 
 like God. Eead such passages as the following: Gen. vi. 5, 12; 
 Josh. xxiv. 19; Ps. xiv. 1, 3, li. 5; Jer. vi. 10, xiii. 23, xvii. 9; 
 John iii. 3, 5, xvii. 16; Kom.' viii. 7; 1 John iii. 1. Against duty, 
 against history, against good sense, against self-interest, against con- 
 science, men will leave God, and serve strange gods, variously named, 
 "the world," " self," " reason," and the like; and the cause of this is 
 to be found in the heart of man, which is estranged from God. 
 Imagine the feeling of an Israelite who had a memory or a heart, as 
 he prostrated himself before the gods of the conquered Canaanites. 
 
 "And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth." — Judg. ii. 13. 
 
 13. Baal was the supreme male divinity of the Canaanitish and 
 Phoenician nations. Ashtaroth, or Ashtoreth, was their supreme 
 female divinity. The worship of these divinities is of very early 
 date. We find Baal worshipped by the Moabites in the days of 
 Moses (Num. xxii. 41). We find Israel worshipping Baal through 
 the seduction of the Moabites (Num. xxv. 3). That idolatry was 
 punished; but here we find it renewed by the next generation. 
 Indeed, this form of idolatry seems to have prevailed among the 
 Israelites till the time of Samuel (1 Sam. vii. 4). "The worship of 
 Baal amongst the Jews appears to have been appointed with much 
 pomp and ceremonial. Temples were erected to him. His images 
 were set up. His altars were very numerous, and were erected par- 
 ticularly on lofty eminences, and on the roofs of houses. There were 
 priests in great numbers and of various classes. The worshippers 
 appear to have been arrayed in appropriate robes ; the worship was 
 performed by burning incense, and offering burnt sacrifices, which 
 occasionally consisted of human victims. The officiating priests 
 danced with frantic shouts around the altar, and cut themselves with 
 knives to excite the attention and compassion of the god." The 
 name Baal is compounded with others, giving names of a special 
 significance. Thus we have Baal-Berith, or Covenant Baal (Judg. 
 viii. 33) ; Baal-Zebub, Baal, or Lord of the fly (2 Kings i. 2). 
 
 The children of Israel were led into these idolatries by the people 
 around them, who found a place in their hearts where they could be 
 reached, and taken captive. "The imperfect conquest had left for- 
 midable enemies, not only on the frontier, but in the heart of the land. 
 The necessity of taking up those arms which they had so rashly laid 
 down speedily became urgent. It was no longer, however, a national 
 
JUDGES. 69 
 
 war, but a war of the separate tribes against their immediate ene- 
 mies.'' There were some successes; but, in many cases, the " tribes 
 seem to have adopted the dangerous measure of entering into terms 
 with their enemies, and permitting them to reside in the land on the 
 payment of tribute. Intermarriages soon followed, and led to commu- 
 nity of religious worship. The Israelites strayed, without scruple, into 
 the shady grore, where the voluptuous rites of the Canaanites were 
 held, or attended at their gay and splendid festivals. By degrees they 
 began to incorporate the two religions. . . . The Israelites in general 
 yielded themselves up to the idolatries before they were subjugated 
 by the arms of the surrounding nations. . . . The want of union 
 among the tribes arose naturally out of their disobedience to the com- 
 mands of their lawgiver, and brought with it the punishment of 
 that disobedience, not merely in the abandonment of protecting 
 Providence, but in the ordinary course of events. The neighborhood 
 of the idolatrous tribes led to apostasy; apostasy, to weakness and 
 servitude." 
 
 "And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into 
 the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their 
 enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their 
 enemies. 
 
 " Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was aganist them for 
 evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them ; and they were 
 greatly distressed. 
 
 " Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the 
 hand of those that spoiled them." — Judg. ii. 14-16. 
 
 14. It is not strange that "the anger of the Lord was hot against 
 Israel" (see Ps. cvi. 40-42). The very nations with which they had 
 formed alliances, and before whose gods they bowed themselves, 
 turned upon them to spoil them (see 2 Kings xvii. 20). They were 
 delivered into the hands of their enemies, who had not been able to 
 stand before them: they were given to them as if they had been 
 sold (see chap. hi. 8, iv. 2, x. 7; Ps. xliv. 12; Isa. 1. 1). Notice the 
 threatening in Lev. xxvi. 17. Here is its fulfilment. The blessings 
 promised in Lev. xxvi. 7, 8, had been forfeited. 
 
 15. Head Josh, xxiii. 8-13. They were abundantly warned. They 
 thought they should take heed. In the beginning of prosperity, their 
 faith failed ; they forgot him who had given them success ; they ran 
 into the peril from which obedience would have kept them. The 
 hand of the Lord had worked for Israel ; now it was against Israel 
 in punishment. "As the Lord had said" (see Deut. xxviii. 15, 25). 
 
 16. Though Israel thus sinned and suffered, the Lord would not 
 
70 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 give his people up to utter destruction. He heard their groanings, and 
 saw their calamity. He had made them know their sin and its con- 
 sequences. " Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges which delivered 
 them." This is the first mention of this name, " judge." These new 
 leaders were inferior to Moses and Joshua; but they were the Lord's 
 ministers, and by them he did many wonderful works, as this book 
 relates. 
 
 But even new deliverances did not avail to turn the Israelites from 
 idols and idolaters: " They ceased not from their own doings, nor 
 from their stubborn way." Then the Lord in judgment refused to 
 drive out "the nations which Joshua left when he died." The pres- 
 ence of these nations would test the Israelites, and put their piety to 
 the proof. The Canaanites would still trouble Israel, and be a scourge 
 upon those who would not drive them out, nor keep aloof from them. 
 Thus were disobedience and idolatry punished. 
 
 The next chapter gives an account of the nations which were left to 
 trouble Israel. This narrative should be read, before passing on to 
 the next lesson. 
 
 PBACTICAL THOUGHTS. 
 
 1. Useful men die, even while useless men live. 
 
 2. Mark the tendency of the human heart away from God. 
 
 3. Use the means God has ordained for training the minds of men, 
 and keeping them true to him. 
 
 4. If we forsake God, we should not think it strange that he leaves 
 us to our own devices. 
 
 5. But there is compassion with God, and in this world is space 
 for repentance. 
 
 Deboeah and Babak. — Chap. iv. 1-9. 
 [This passage was included in the original plan for these lessons.] 
 
 " And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, when Ehud 
 was dead. 
 
 " And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigaed 
 in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the 
 Gentiles." — Judg. iv. 1, 2. 
 
JUDGES. 71 
 
 1. The first judge was Othniel (chap. iii. 9) : " The Spirit of the 
 Lord came upon him ; and he judged Israel, and went out to war." 
 
 The second judge was Ehud, "a Benjamite, a man left-handed. " 
 The children of Israel were in bondage to Eglon, the King of Moab, 
 for eighteen years. "When the children of Israel cried unto the 
 Lord, the Lord raised them up a deliverer. " Ehud killed Eglon, and 
 at a signal the Israelites fell upon the Moabites, and " so Moab was 
 subdued that day under the hand of Israel." The next judge men- 
 tioned is Shamgar, who delivered Israel from the Philistines. 
 
 After the deliverance from the Moabites, the land had rest fourscore 
 years. When Ehud was dead, the children of Israel resumed the idola- 
 try from which they had been kept while this judge was living. The 
 work of a judge included both the political protection of the people, 
 and their preservation from idolatry. " Did evil" is the common 
 expression to denote the practice of idolatry. 
 
 2. The expression, "sold them," is found in chap. ii. 14, and other 
 places. The first use of it is in Deut. xxxii. 30. The people came 
 into the power of the conquerors, became, as it were, their property. 
 
 We have in Josh. xi. 1, " Jabin, King of Hazor." He was one of the 
 kings who came out to oppose the march of Joshua, by whom he was 
 defeated with great slaughter. " They left some of them remaining." 
 " Joshua at that time turned back, and took Hazor, and smote the 
 king thereof with the sword. . . . And they smote all the souls that 
 were therein . . . utterly destroying them : there was not any left to 
 breathe. And he burnt Hazor with fire." The common chronology 
 gives about a hundred and fifty years between these events and those 
 described in this chapter. The interval may have been less. It 
 is possible that Hazor was rebuilt after being destroyed by Joshua, 
 and that Jabin was the hereditary name of its kings : unless this were 
 so, the two narratives would seem to refer to the same event, in which 
 Joshua and Barak would both have a part. The former explanation, 
 is the more probable. We read of Hazor again in 1 Kings ix. 15, 
 where it appears as one of the fortified towns of Solomon. Hazor 
 was a city in the portion of Naphtali (Josh. xix. 36). It was near the 
 " waters of Merom," in the far north. Harosheth is supposed to have 
 stood on the west coast of the Lake of Merom. "It has been con- 
 jectured that this being a great timber district, rich in cedars and fir- 
 trees, and near Great Zidon, Jabin kept a great number of oppressed 
 Israelites at work in hewing wood, and preparing it at Harosheth for 
 transport to Zidon, and that these wood-cutters, armed with axes and 
 hatchets, formed the soldiers of Barak's army." We read of Sisera 
 in Ez. ii. 53, Neh. vii. 55. "It is remarkable that from this enemy 
 
72 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS, 
 
 of the Jews should have sprung one of their most eminent charac- 
 ters." That is, " the great Kabbi Akiba," who took a prominent part 
 in the Jewish war of independence. 
 
 " And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord : for he had nine hundred char- 
 iots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel." 
 — Judg. iv. 3. 
 
 3. The children of Israel, by forsaking God, fell into the power of 
 the enemies they should long before have subdued, but whom they 
 had suffered to remain near them. Now those who should have been 
 masters came under the tyranny of the Canaanitish king. All was 
 in keeping with the repeated warning, that, if they forsook God, he 
 would forsake them. Finding that his favor had departed, in their 
 distress they " cried unto the Lord." For twenty years the heathen 
 king " mightily oppressed the children of Israel." It took time to 
 show them their sin ; and the Lord made them to suffer for their im- 
 piety. Their sin was the greatest and most perilous. It ought not to 
 go without severe rebuke. The word " oppressed" is used to de- 
 scribe the condition of the Israelites in Egypt (see Exod. iii. 9). 
 
 Jabin the king, and Sisera the captain of his host, had nine hun- 
 dred chariots of iron. These chariots were probably of wood, heavily 
 strengthened and defended with iron (see Josh. xi. 6, 9, xvii. 16). It 
 is possible that the "chariots of iron" were chariots armed with 
 scythes. 
 
 " And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that 
 time. 
 
 "And she dwelt under the palm-tree of Deborah, between Raman and Beth-el 
 in Mount Ephraim ; and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment." — 
 Judg. iv. 4, 5 
 
 4. The fourth judgeship was that of Deborah and Barak. Deborah, 
 besides being a judge, or that she might be a judge, was " a prophet- 
 ess." By the same name Miriam is called (Exod. xv. 20), and Hul- 
 dah (2 Kings xxii. 14), and other women. She was a woman of great 
 piety and wisdom, to whom was communicated, in an extraordinary 
 measure, the illumination of the Divine Spirit ; so that she could inter- 
 pret the divine will, and utter God's counsel in lofty strains, and per- 
 form heroic deeds. She was moved upon by a divine influence. We 
 have examples of her works in vers. 6-9, 14, and in chap. v. Of 
 Lapidoth we have but this mention. 
 
 5. When Deborah judged the people, and received the children of 
 Israel as they came to her with their questions and suits, she sat 
 
JUDGES. 73 
 
 under a palm-tree which came to bear her name. It was usual for 
 the judges to sit in the gate, where they could be easily found (see 
 Euth iv. 1, 2; Prov. xxii. 22). "It suited her character, and the wild, 
 unsafe times, better for her to sit under a palm-tree. ,, In regard to 
 the union of the two names of "judge " and " prophetess," it has been 
 remarked, "A female ruler was so extraordinary a thing in Israel 
 (not a single instance occurs, except that of the foreign usurper, Atha- 
 liah), that the reason of it is invariably subjoined to her name." 
 Deborah, a prophetess, judged Israel. Her whole conduct and bear- 
 ing were in keeping with her person and her sacred office. Deborah 
 probably belonged to the tribe of Ephraim, whose portion was near 
 the middle of the land. Bethel and Ramah were in the portion of 
 Benjamin, which lay next to Ephraim, on the south. 
 
 " And she sent and called Barak, the son of Abinoam, out of Kedesh-naphtali, 
 and said unto him. Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying, Go, and 
 draw toward Mount Tat or, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children 
 of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun ? " — Judg. iv. 6. 
 
 6. Barak signifies lightning, "an appropriate name for a warrior 
 whose sword flashed as quickly and irresistibly as lightning." Abino- 
 am we know only through his son. Happy the father who gives an 
 honorable name to his child ! happy the child who brings his father 
 into honorable notice! Kedesh-naphtali is Kedesh in Naphtali, 
 north- west of the waters of Merom. By the addition of the name of 
 the tribe, the place is distinguished from Kedesh in the south, below 
 Judah. It was one of the cities of the Levites, and a city of refuge 
 (Josh. xxi. 32). Barak knew the sad condition of his people, and very 
 likely had a desire to deliver them ; but he lacked the boldness which 
 would have led him to take up arms, and he had not the direct com- 
 mission which he needed. Deborah's words seem to imply that she 
 knew he had a feeling that he should do something for his nation. 
 But she gave to him the command of the Lord. She spoke to him in 
 the name of the Lord. In James v. 10, we read of "the prophets, 
 who have spoken in the name of the Lord." She spoke for the " Lord 
 God of Israel." Still the God of Israel, though disowned and for- 
 saken, he it was who had made Israel a people. His were the cove- 
 nants and deliverances and triumphs. He alone could deliver Israel 
 from the oppression of the heathen. His word was to be trusted and 
 obeyed. The name was full of hope and encouragement. 
 
 Mount Tabor is " one of the most interesting and remarkable of the 
 
 single mountains of Palestine." " Two mountains, the glory of the tribe 
 
 of Issachar, stand out among the bare and rugged hills of Palestine, 
 
 and even among those of their own immediate neighborhood, remark- 
 
 7 
 
74 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 able for the verdure which climbs — a rare sight in Eastern scenery — 
 to their very summits. One of these is Tabor," the other is "Car- 
 mel, with its long projecting ridge by the sea." Tabor is in the north- 
 eastern part of the plain of Esdraelon, and is some six or eight miles 
 east of Nazareth. Its height is about two thousand feet above the 
 level of the sea. Its top is "an irregular platform," which would 
 make a good gathering-place for the forces of Israel, and a good place 
 from which to descend upon the enemy in the plain below. Tabor is 
 prominent in Old Testament history, but is not found in the New 
 Testament. This mountain figures, also, in the later history of the 
 land. The plan of Deborah was for Barak to unite the northern 
 tribes with some of those upon the south, on this middle ground. 
 Barak was to draw his men from his own tribe, and the adjoining 
 tribe of Zebulun. 
 
 "And I will draw unto thee, to the River Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Jabin's 
 army, with his chariots and his multitude ; and I will deliver him into thine hand." 
 — Judg. iv. 7. 
 
 7. The Kiver Kishon, " that ancient river," has one of its sources 
 in Mount Tabor, " and flows nearly due west through the plain under 
 Mount Carmel, and into the Bay of Acre. In the early or eastern part of 
 its course, before it is recruited by the springs of Carmel, it is nothing 
 but a torrent, often dry, but liable to swell very suddenly and danger- 
 ously, and to overflow its banks in early spring, after rain or the 
 melting of snow. This actually occurred at the battle of Mount Ta- 
 bor, in April, 1799, when many of the Turkish army were in conse- 
 quence drowned. The ground on the banks of the Kishon, near 
 Megiddo, becomes an impassable morass under the same circumstan- 
 ces, and would be particularly dangerous to a large number of char- 
 iots." The great plain of Esdraelon, or Jezreel, the valley of Megiddo, 
 stretches across Central Palestine, from the Jordan to the Mediter- 
 ranean. It was a place well suited to a battle with chariots and 
 horses, and such a field as Sisera would seek. "The whole borders 
 of the plain of Esdraelon are dotted with places of high historic and 
 sacred interest." Thither Deborah said that Sisera should be drawn 
 to the encounter with Barak. In this she was speaking for the Lord, 
 telling what he had said. The God of Israel had power over the heart 
 of Jabin and his general. He could bring these idolaters, the oppress- 
 ors of his people, where his hand would be outstretched for the 
 deliverance of his erring but now praying people, and for the destruc- 
 tion of their enemies. He could make the forces he had set in nature 
 work for his people. The stars in their courses should fight against 
 Sisera, and the River Kishon sweep him away (chap. v. 20, 21). 
 
JUDGES. 75 
 
 There is no concealment of the power of the Canaanites: Sisera 
 would come with his iron chariots and his large army. ^But what 
 were they against the God of Israel? " I will deliver him into their 
 hand." In the strength of this command and promise, Barak was to 
 make ready for the battle. 
 
 " And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go ; but, if thou 
 wilt not go with me, then I will not go." — Judg. iv. 8. 
 
 8. Yet Barak was faint-hearted. So have others been who after- 
 wards have done great works. Read Exod. iv. 10 ; chap. vi. 15, 36-40. 
 Barak would go, if Deborah would go with him. The word of the 
 unseen God, as she had uttered it, was not enough. He wanted to 
 see his minister, to have the prophetess with him, to give him direc- 
 tion, to confirm his courage, to be the assurance of the divine presence, 
 and make the army confident of the divine help. Without this, he 
 would not go. He could not endure "sis seeing him who is invisi- 
 ble" (Heb. xi. 27). 
 
 " And she said, I will surely go with thee ; notwithstanding the journey that 
 thou takest shall not be for thine honor ; for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the 
 hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh." — Judg. 
 iv. 9. 
 
 9. Deborah was sure of the result. She had no misgiving. "I will 
 surely go with thee." But if she went as the real leader of the army, 
 to whom even Barak looked up, the glory 6f the success would be 
 hers, and not his. In addition to this, Sisera himself should not be 
 slain on the field of Barak, by some warrior from Naphtali, but should 
 be sold into the hand of a woman. This woman was Jael. Read 
 vers. 17-24. Her hammer and nail would kill the captain of the 
 Canaanites as he slept in her tent. "For a similar use of a weak 
 instrument, that the excellency of the power might be of God, com- 
 pare the history of Gideon and his three hundred, David and his sling, 
 Shamgar and his ox-goat, Samson and the jaw-bone of an ass," <fec. 
 
 When Deborah spoke of " a woman," Barak probably thought that 
 she meant herself. Her real meaning came out only in the sequel. 
 Then Deborah arose, and went with Barak to his own city of Kedesh. 
 As we read of southern tribes engaged in this conflict, it is probable 
 that Deborah " commissioned some chief to raise the tribes of Eph- 
 raim, Benjamin, and Manasseh" (chap. v. 14). Barak was to gather 
 the men from the north tribes at Kedesh. 
 
 This encls the passage selected for the lesson. But the rest of this 
 chapter should be read, — how Barak*gatherecl his ten thousand men, 
 and went to Mount Tabor; how Sisera, hearing of this revolt, 
 
76 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 
 brought out his nine hundred chariots of iron, and his host of war- 
 riors, and went into the plain below Tabor; how Barak, at Deborah's 
 signal and encouragement, rushed down from the mountain wi' h his 
 army, and discomfited Sisera and all his chariots, and his host, so 
 that Sisera fled for his life, and all the host fell upon the edge of 
 Israel's sword; how Sisera took refuge in Jael's tent, where he was 
 put to death by the woman's hand. " So God subdued, on that day, 
 Jabin, the King of Canaan, before the children of Israel. And the 
 hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin, 
 the King of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin, King of Canaan," 
 In all this narrative, Barak has his place, and Deborah has hers. 
 Neither aspires to the other's office and work. 
 
 Chap. v. is the song of Deborah and Barak in celebration of the 
 victory. " This noble ode, which, for poetic spirit and lyric fire, is 
 not surpassed by any of the sacred songs in the Bible," seems to have 
 been composed and sung by Deborah. Barak assisted in its recital, 
 perhaps with cymbals and timbrels. He may have sung with the 
 chorus of men the second verse as an answer to the exultant strains 
 of Deborah (see Exod. xv. 1, 20, 21). The faith of Barak is com- 
 mended in Heb. xi. 32. 
 
 PE ACTIO AL THOUGHTS. 
 
 1. If we forget God, we must look for chastisement. 
 
 2. It is better to be chastised for our faults than to be left to our 
 own ways. 
 
 3. In our distresses we are to cry unto the Lord. Though we have 
 done wickedly, he will hear our penitent cry. 
 
 4. He is able to advance his purpose's by humble instrumentalities. 
 Read 1 Cor. i. 26-31. 
 
 Lesson III. — The Cai/l of Gideon. — Chap. vi. 11-18. 
 
 " In the defeat of Sisera the last attempt of the old inhabitants to 
 recover their sway was put down. The next event is wholly different : 
 it is the invasion of the tribes of the adjoining desert." After the 
 destruction of Jabin, "the land had rest forty years." The children 
 of Israel again went into idolatry: "And the Lord delivered them 
 into the hand of Midian seven years." The Midianites greatly op- 
 pressed them, so that "Israel^was greatly impoverished." Again 
 Israel cried unto the Lord, the great, strong, kind, patient, forgiv- 
 
JUDGES. 7) 
 
 ing God. The Lord sent to Israel a prophet, whose name is not told, 
 who briefly rehearsed the story of the deliverance from Egypt, and 
 the command with which the people were brought into their land. 
 They were not to pay reverence and worship to the gods of the heathen 
 who dwelt around them. "I am the Lord your God." "But ye 
 have not obeyed my voice." Once more was divine succor needed 
 and sought ; and once more would it be given. 
 
 " And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in 
 Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abi-ezrite ; and his son Gideon threshed 
 wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites." — Judg. vi. 11. 
 
 11. We have frequent mention of "the angel of the Lord." It 
 means more than "an angel." It is "used nearly sixty times to 
 designate the angel of God's presence" (see chap. ii. 1; Gen. xvi. 
 7, 13, xxii. 11, 15, 16). " In all cases where ' the angel of the Lord ' 
 delivers a message, he does it, as here, as if God himself were speak- 
 ing, without the intervening words, ' Thus saith the Lord,' which 
 are used in case of prophets." In this passage we have the -angel 
 of the Lord (ver. 11) called "the Lord " (vers. 14, 16, 23). The Lord 
 here is " Jehovah." We have before expressed the opinion that the 
 angel of the Lord was the Lord, Jehovah, revealed, manifested in 
 form; that he was the "Son of God," with whose later appearance 
 we are familiar. 
 
 Ophrah was in Manasseh, and not far from Shechem. Joash was 
 the head of the village. Abiezer was the eldest son of Gilead, and 
 was descended from Machir and Manasseh. The family was at first 
 on the east of the Jordan, but is now found at Ophrah. Joash ap- 
 pears to have been the head of the family at this time. 
 
 The oak mentioned was a well-known tree at the time when this 
 history was written. The altar built by Gideon under the tree (ver. 
 24) is spoken of as yet in Ophrah. 
 
 Gideon was the son of Joash. "There were vineyards round his 
 native Ophrah (chap. viii. 2) ; and by the winepress, in which the 
 grapes would be trodden out in the coming autumn, he now, in the 
 summer months, doubtless, with his father's bullocks, was threshing 
 out the newly-gathered wheat. Close by the smooth level was a cave, 
 into which the juice of the grapes ran off through a channel cut in 
 the rocky reservoir, and which Gideon now used to hide the corn 
 from the rapacious invaders. Above this cave, as it would seem, 
 stood a rock in the midst of a grove of trees, amongst which the 
 most conspicuous was' a well-known terebinth, spreading its wide 
 branches alike over the rock and the winepress. The grove was dedi- 
 cated (so deeply had the Canaanitish worship spread even into the 
 
78 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 purest families) to Astarte. The rock, with an altar on its summit, 
 was consecrated to Baal, and was venerated as a stronghold, or 
 asylum, by the neighborhood " (see vers. 25-32). 
 
 " And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord 
 is with thee, thou mighty man of valor." — Judg. vi. 12. 
 
 12. %i The angel of the Lord appeared " unto Gideon, and addressed 
 him in words of encouragement, which would at once attract his 
 notice, and arouse his heart. " The Lord is with thee " was a 
 common mode of greeting (Ruth ii. 4). Often the expression might 
 be a mere formality : at other times, it might convey a personal and 
 impressive truth. On this occasion it gave to Gideon the assurance 
 of something important to be told him, something eventful to be 
 done by him. 
 
 " Thou mighty man of valor." Whether Gideon had already done 
 any thing to deserve this praise, we are not told. It may have been in 
 anticipation of that which he was to do. The Lord knew what was 
 in his heart, and saw that he had a valorous spirit, which would work 
 when its time was come. Compare with this salutation that given to 
 Mary (Luke i. 28, 30). 
 
 " And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why, then, 
 is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, 
 saying, Did not- the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord hath for- 
 saken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. 
 
 " And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shaTfc 
 save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have I not sent thee?" — Judg. 
 vi. 13, 14. 
 
 13. Gideon spoke the language of despair. He was courteous even 
 before he knew who addressed him; but he was sad. He saw no 
 signs of God's presence. The might of the Ked Sea and the Jordan, 
 the glory of Jericho and Esdraelon, were not seen. Israel suffered, 
 and had no helper. How could he be present, and his favor be absent ? 
 The past was sure ; but the very miracles of other days declared the 
 absence of him who had done them. The people were forsaken. 
 Midian, the heathen, governed and oppressed (see Deut. xxxi. 17, 18). 
 It is singular that there is no hint of the cause of these calamities, 
 no word of confession, no token of penitence. God had forsaken 
 them: no acknowledgment was made that they had forsaken God. 
 This had all been threatened. The word was simply fulfilled. They 
 felt its pains, but had no feeling of their desert of the punishment. 
 Read Isa. xlix. 14 15. 
 
JUDGES. 79 
 
 14. " The Lord," before called " the angel of the Lord," but now 
 named in his true character. Jehovah looked upon Gideon. He 
 turned towards him. He looked upon him with favor (see Ps. xi. 7, 
 xxv. 16). He was not about to reproach him for his murmuring, nor 
 remind him of his sin. His thoughts were of mercy and help (see 
 Num. vi. 25, 26). 
 
 '"Go in this thy might." With the look, strength was imparted. 
 He gave courage and wisdom and strength to the man upon whom his 
 gaze rested. It was somewhat as our Lord breathed upon his disci- 
 ples, saying, ""Receive ye the Holy Ghost" (John xx. 22). At the 
 word of the- Lord there went forth ability to obey him. The man 
 with a withered hand could stretch it out as he was bidden. The 
 palsied man could carry his bed. The dead could rise from his bier, 
 or desert his sepulchre. Bead 2 Cor. xii. 9 ; Eph. vi. 11. 
 
 Gideon was promised success. His faith was not rejected because 
 it was small, but encouraged with a clear promise. The Lord sent 
 him out. The emphasis is on I. If Jehovah sends, we must go ; 
 and we shall surely go in a good way, whose end is victory. The 
 sending was a divine commission (compare Matt, xxviii. 19-20). 
 The Lord God of Moses and Joshua was still with his people ; and 
 their deliverance was at hand. 
 
 " And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, 
 my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. 
 
 " And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite 
 the Midianites as one man." — Judg. vi. 15, 16. 
 
 15. But Gideon hesitated. The meekness of Moses was upon him. 
 Shall this thresher of wheat be "a thresher of men"? (see Exod. 
 iii. 11, iv. 10). The man heard the command of the Lord; but his 
 heart was not equal to the divine appointment. The least man in 
 the poorest family of Manasseh shrank from the work of a chieftain. 
 It had not been proved then, as many times as it has since, that the 
 Lord chooses his heroes and leaders not as man chooses. Whom 
 men overlook, God selects for places of rare honor and usefulness. 
 
 16. The Lord was very patient with Gideon. The encouragement 
 was the strongest : " Surely I will be with thee " (see Exod. iii. 12, iv. 
 12; Matt, xxviii. 20). If Gideon was weak, he could be strong, if the 
 Lord was with him. If Gideon was least, God would be most in the 
 coming victory. There would be less likelihood that the man would 
 lay claim to the honor, if he knew himself unequal to the undertak- 
 ing. The great thing was, that God should be recognized and hon- 
 ored and remembered (see 2 Cor. iv. 7). 
 
80 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 Mark the kindness of the Lord. He not only promises his own 
 presence, which should have been enough, but also a complete vic- 
 tory. As one man, should the enemy be smitten. 
 
 " And he said unto Mm, If. now, I have found grace in thy sight, then show me 
 a sign that thou talkest with me. 
 
 " Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my 
 present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again." 
 — Judg. vi. 17, 18. 
 
 17. Still Gideon was not assured. His faith did not rise to the oc- 
 casion. He would have a visible sign that it was the Lord who talked 
 with him. He would know certainly that this was not a dream; 
 that he was not called and commisioned by one without authority ; 
 that all would be even as he was told. 
 
 "If I have found grace in thy sight " is an expression often found 
 (see Gen. vi. 8, xviii. 3, xix. 19) : it was a fitting preface to his re- 
 quest. 
 
 18. The word "present" was used to denote a meat and drink 
 offering. It was in this case a word of convenient ambiguity. 
 What he brought is described in verse 19. If this food was received 
 and eaten as by a man, the visitor would seem to be a man, — a 
 prophet, perhaps: if it was otherwise treated, there would be the 
 sign of a celestial visitant. A supernatural personage might be ex- 
 pected to receive the kid and unleavened cakes in a way of his own, 
 which should declare his character. The stranger was therefore re- 
 quested to remain where he was till the present was brought to him. 
 To this he agreed. We see in all his treatment of Gideon the great- 
 est consideration and patience and good-will. 
 
 Following this lesson we have the account of the bringing of the 
 present, and the manner of its reception. When the flesh and cakes 
 were laid on the rock, the angel touched them with his staff ; and fire 
 came out of the rock, and consumed them. The present was thus re- 
 ceived as a religious offering : then the angel vanished from sight. 
 He had shown who he was. Gideon knew that he was an angel of the 
 Lord. He was afraid. But the voice of the unseen angel, or anoth- 
 er voice of the Lord, said, " Peace be unto thee : fear not: thou shalt 
 not die." Then Gideon built an altar there where he had seen the 
 Lord. By further command, he threw down the altar of Baal, and 
 cut down the grove where idolatrous worship had been performed. 
 
JUDGES. 81 
 
 He built an altar in the ordered place; and, with the wood of the 
 grove, lie offered a bullock from his father's herd as burnt sacrifice. 
 But fearing his father's household, and the men of the city, he did 
 the work by night. The men of the city were incensed when they 
 found that the grove and Baal's altar were gone. They demanded 
 Gideon of his father, and would have taken vengeance upon him ; 
 but Joash shrewdly decreed that no man should plead for Baal: "If 
 he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down 
 his altar." 
 
 Then the Midianites and their allies pitched in the Yalley of Jez- 
 reel. They came to oppress and rob Israel (see verses 3-6) ; but 
 now they were to encounter a force they could not overcome. The 
 Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon ; and he was stirred for the 
 conflict. He summoned his father's house. He sent messengers 
 through his own tribe, and the tribes at the north. The men came 
 up to him to go against the common enemy. 
 
 Gideon asked yet another sign, and yet another, using a fleece of 
 I wool. God was gracious and indulgent, and gave him the signs he 
 : desired; so that Gideon was convinced that God would save Israel by 
 his hand, as he had said (vers. 36-40). 
 
 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 
 
 1. It is easy for the Lord to speak to us. It is natural that he 
 should do so. 
 
 2. When our troubles are many and sore, he can deliver us. 
 
 3. When we are chastened, we should remember our faults as 
 much as our griefs. If we cannot trace a connection between our 
 sin and our suffering, we are still to remember that all suffering 
 comes because of sin. 
 
 4. Penitence and prayer have power with God. 
 
 5. Mark the exceeding patience of God. 
 
 6. Put away all idols, and worship God alone. 
 
 7. If idols cannot save us, they have no claim upon our service. 
 
 8. The Spirit of the Lord, the Holy Spirit, in us will make us ex- 
 ceeding strong. 
 
82 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 Lessoh IV. — Gideon's Army. — Chap. vii. 1-8. 
 
 Gideon had gathered his forces to resist the Midianites and those 
 who were with them. He had received repeated assurances that the 
 Lord would save Israel by his hand. 
 
 " Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that toere with him, rose up 
 early, and pitched beside the well of Harod; so that the host of the Midianites 
 were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. 
 
 " And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many 
 for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves 
 against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me." —Judo. vii. 1, 2. 
 
 1. Gideon received the name " Jerubbaal" after he had thrown 
 down the altar of Baal, as we read in chap. vi. 32. He was called 
 by this name by the men of his city. The name denotes one " with 
 whom Baal contends." In 2 Sam. xi. 21 we find Gideon called 
 " Jerubbesheth " (compare Judg. viii. 31), which means one "with 
 whom the idol contends." 
 
 The well, or spring, of Harod, i.e., "the spring of trembling." It 
 was very likely the same with the modern Ain Jahlood, "the spring 
 of Goliath," at the foot of Mount Gilboa, in the south of Galilee. 
 We have the name again as descriptive of two men in 2. Sam. xxiii. 
 25. 
 
 The hill of Moreh was probably what is known as "Little Her- 
 mon," a few miles north of Mount Gilboa. For the people included 
 under the name " Midianites," see chap. vi. 33. Gideon and his army 
 were on the south side of the Valley of Jezreel, beside or above 
 the spring of Harod. The Midianites were on the north side of the 
 valley. 
 
 2. If the host of Israel was larger or stronger than the enemy, it 
 would be taken as the result of its physical superiority that Israel 
 gained the victory. It was of the last importance that the Lord 
 should have the glory ; because it was above all things important that 
 Israel should know the Lord, regain their confidence in him, renew 
 their allegiance to him, and be among the heathen the people of the 
 Lord. It was necessary, too, that the Lord should be magnified in the 
 sight of the heathen. Israel was to say, "The hand of the Lord 
 hath saved me." The Midianites were to say, "The hand of the 
 Lord hath saved thee." The victory would be quickly won; but the 
 lesson would be of permanent value (read Deut. viii. 10-20). The 
 power of Jehovah, and the weakness of Baal, were now to be de- 
 clared (read Ps. cxv. 1-8). 
 
JUDGES. 83 
 
 "Now, therefore, go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is 
 fearful and afraid, let him return, and depart early from Mount Gilead. And 
 there returned of the people twenty and two thousand ; and there remained ten 
 thousand. 
 
 " And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many: bring them 
 down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there : and it shall be, that of 
 whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee ; and 
 of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not 
 go. 
 
 " So he brought down the people unto the water ; and the Lord said unto Gideon, 
 Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt 
 thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to 
 drink." — Judg. vii. 3-5. 
 
 3. This was the first movement towards the reduction of the army 
 of Israel. The fearful were to take themselves away (read Deut. 
 xx. 1-8). The reason given in Deuteronomy is not the same with 
 that we find here ; but it shows why the timid were sent home when 
 the number was to be lessened. The nearness of the multitude of 
 the Midianites, with their horses and chariots, struck terror into the 
 hearts of the children of Israel. Twenty and two thousand were 
 glad of the permission to withdraw. 
 
 " Mount Gilead" was probably the same with Mount Gilboa. 
 
 4. Even ten thousand were too many to leave it manifest that the 
 victory was of the Lord, and not of men. The second act of reduc- 
 tion was at the spring of water. There the Lord would let each man 
 prove himself, or show out his disposition. The decree of separa- 
 tion which the Lord should make was to be carried out by Gideon. 
 
 5. Those who threw themselves on the ground, and brought their 
 mouths down to the water, would show a self-indulgent spirit, which 
 was not becoming in a soldier, especially with the enemy in sight. 
 They would not "endure hardness," as good soldiers. Those who 
 restrained themselves, and simply took up the water in their hands, 
 showed self-restraint. They instinctively kept themselves in a posi- 
 tion in which they could spring in an instant upon the enemy, if he 
 drew near. The two acts seem small in themselves; but they 
 showed forth two kinds of disposition. The latter makes the better 
 soldiers. 
 
 " And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were 
 three hundred men : but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees 
 to drink water. 
 
 " And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I 
 save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand j and let all the other people 
 go every man ui.to his place. 
 
84 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 
 " So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets; and he sent all 
 the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred men ; 
 and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley." — Judg. vii. 6-8. 
 
 6. Most of tlie army fell down, and deliberately drank the water, 
 and were thus proved. Three hundred, in a more soldierly way, 
 drank from their hands. 
 
 7. Though a miracle was to give them the victory, still the men 
 themselves were required to be good soldiers. By the three hundred 
 was Israel to be saved ; yet the saving of Israel was of the Lord who 
 chose and used them. The rest of the host were dismissed. The 
 promise of the Lord was clear. I will save you was the divine 
 assurance. Had the army been large, there might have been no such 
 promise ; but, reduced to three hundred, it was fitting that Gideon 
 should have distinct encouragement. 
 
 8. The three hundred took the food and the trumpets of those who 
 were sent back to their tents, so far as was needed to furnish each 
 man. We find afterwards that every man had a trumpet, a pitcher, 
 and a lamp. Among the ten thousand who were proved at the spring 
 would be enough to equip each man of the three hundred for the 
 peculiar work he was to do. 
 
 So Gideon was left with his three hundred, with the Lord's prom- 
 ise in his heart, and with the numerous and strong hosts of Midian in 
 the valley below him. 
 
 Here the lesson ends. But we find Gideon still further encouraged 
 by the dream of one of the men ; and, when it was interpreted, he 
 said, " Arise; for the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of 
 Midian." Then followed the assault with trumpets and lamps ; and 
 the proud enemy ran, and cried, and fled. " The sword of the Lord 
 and of Gideon" had prevailed. Gideon followed the fugitives with 
 his three hundred, and crossed the Jordan, " faint, yet pursuing." 
 At the end "was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so 
 that they lifted up their heads no more, and the country was in 
 quietness forty years in the days of Gideon " (chap. viii. 28). The 
 men of Israel would have Gideon and his sons in their generations 
 rule over them; but Gideon said, "I will not rule over you, neither 
 shall my son rule over you: the Lord shall rule over you." 
 
 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 
 
 1. The Lord is able to carry out his purposes without the aid of 
 men. If he uses men, he does not need a large army. The strength 
 is his. 
 
JUDGES. 85 
 
 2. In carrying ont his plans, the Lord chooses different kinds of 
 men for different kinds of work. The man who is too fearful for a 
 soldier can serve in a peaceful life. For martial life, brave, self-deny- 
 ing, patient, enduring men are needed, and that even while all is of 
 God. 
 
 3. God is gracious in encouraging us with promises ; and his prom- 
 ises are sure of fulfilment. 
 
 4. Gideon believed God. In that was the secret of his achieve- 
 ments (see Heb. xi. 32). 
 
 Lesson Y. — The Death of Samson. — Chap. xvi. 25-31. 
 
 We pass over a large interval in coming from the last lesson to this. 
 There was time for the apostasy of Israel, and the establishment of a 
 temple for Baal ; for the conspiracy of Abimelech, by which he was 
 made king over the Shechemites, to be slain after reigning three 
 years; for the judgeship of Tola and of Jair; for the selling of the 
 Israelites for their idolatry into the hands of the Philistines and 
 Ammonites ; for the romantic history of Jephthah, and his conquest 
 of the children of Ammon ; for the judgeship of Ibzan and Elon and 
 Abdon : with this we are brought to the story of Samson. 
 
 At the beginning of chap. xiii. we find the Israelites in the hands 
 of the Philistines in consequence of idolatry. Who should come for 
 their succor ? 
 
 " The Philistines present themselves to our notice, if not absolutely 
 for the first time, yet for the first time as a powerful and hostile nation. 
 In the original conquest by Joshua, they are hardly mentioned. 
 Their name seems to indicate their late arrival, — the * strangers ' 
 .... Unlike the rest of the inhabitants of Canaan, they were 
 uncircumcised, and appear to have stood on a lower level of civiliza- 
 tion : they were almost, it may be said, the laughing-stock of their 
 livelier and quicker neighbors, from their dull, heavy stupidity: the 
 easy prey of the rough humor of Samson, or the agility and cunning 
 of the diminutive David. ... Of all the tribes of Israel, that on 
 which these new-comers pressed most heavily was the small tribe of 
 Dan, already straitened between the mountains and the sea, and 
 communicating with its seaport Joppa only by passing through the 
 Philistine territory. Out of this tribe, accordingly, the deliverer 
 came." — Stanley's Jewish Church. 
 
 The story of Samson begins in chapter xiii. He was the son of 
 Manoah, and of the tribe of Dan. His birth was announced by the 
 
85 NOTES FOE TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 angel of the Lord. The child was to be a Nazarite from his birth ; 
 and he was to deliver Israel from the Philistines. The child was born, 
 and as he grew "the Lord blessed him. And the Spirit of the Lord 
 began to move him at times in the camp of Dan." He gave token 
 of what he was to be, perhaps in his plans for Israel, and in his feats 
 of might. The order of Nazarites "was the nearest approach to a 
 monastic institution that the Jewish Church contained. It was, as 
 its name implies, a separation from the rest of the nation, partly by 
 the abstinence from all intoxicating drink, partly by the retention of 
 the savage covering of long flowing tresses of hair. The order thus 
 begun continued to the latest times." 
 
 "Samson takes his place in Scripture: (1) As a judge, an office 
 which he filled for twenty years; (2) As a Nazarite; (3) As one 
 endowed with supernatural power by the spirit of the Lord." With 
 the incidents of Samson's life the children are familiar, — how he 
 slew a young lion with his hands : how he made a riddle which could 
 be guessed only through the importunity of his Philistine wife ; how 
 he burned the corn of the Philistines with firebrands tied to the tails 
 of foxes ; how he slew the Philistines with the jawbone of an ass ; 
 how he carried away the gates of Gaza ; how he could not be bound 
 and held captive till Delilah found out the secret of his strength, and 
 the seven locks of his head were shaved off ; how, then, the Lord was 
 departed from him, his immense might was gone, and he was in the 
 power of the Philistines. 
 
 Samson " was full of the spirits and pranks, no less than of the 
 strength, of a giant. Nothing can disturb his radiant good-humor. 
 His most valiant, his most cruel actions, are done with a smile on 
 his face, and a jest in his mouth. Out of his first achievement he 
 draws the materials for his playful riddle. His second and third 
 achievements are practical jests on the largest scale. The mischiev- 
 ousness of the conflagration of the cornfields by means of the 
 jackals is subordinate to the ludicrousness of the sight. . . . The 
 whole point of the massacre of the thousand Philistines lies in the 
 cleverness with which their clumsy triumph is suddenly turned into 
 discomfiture; and their discomfiture is celebrated by the punning 
 turn of the hero, not forgotten even in the exultation or the weari- 
 ness of victory. ' With the jawbone of an ass have I slain one mass, 
 two masses : with the jawbone of an ass I have slain an ox-load of 
 men.' The carrying-off the gates of Gaza derives all its force from* 
 the neatness with which the Philistine watchmen are outdone on the 
 very spot where they thought themselves secure. . . . The closing 
 scenes of his life breathe throughout the same terrible yet gro- 
 tesque irony. When the captive warrior is called forth, in the merri- 
 
JUDGES. 87 
 
 merit of his persecutors, to exercise for the last time the well-known 
 raillery of his character, he appears as the great jester or buffoon of 
 the nation. The word employed expresses alike the roars of laughter 
 and the wild gambols with which he ' made them sport ; ' and as he 
 puts forth the last energy of his vengeance, the final effort of his ex- 
 piring strength, it is in a stroke of broad and savage humor that his 
 indignant spirit passes away." — Stanley's Jewish Church. 
 
 When the Philistines had Samson helpless in their power, they 
 attributed his capture to their god Dagon, and came together to offer 
 a great sacrifice of thanksgiving to him. 
 
 " And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for 
 Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the 
 prison-house ; and he made them sport : and they set him between the pillars.'" — 
 Judg. xvi. 25. 
 
 25. When their hearts were merry, they crowned their festivities 
 by bringing Samson from prison, that he might make sport for them. 
 This was at Gaza, which was one of the Philistine strongholds. The 
 Philistines had put out his eyes, and bound him with fetters of brass, 
 and made him grind in the prison-house, which was the task of 
 captives and slaves. But the hair of his head was growing while 
 they were doing these things ; and his strength was returning. 
 
 The hearts of the Philistines were merry with wine (see chap, 
 xix. 6, 22; 1 Sam. xxv. 36). In their drunkenness, their cruelty had 
 free course, and they would have their blind prisoner dance before 
 them. He came out, and danced and made music for their amuse- 
 ment; " And they set him between the pillars " of the house. 
 
 "And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I 
 may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them. 
 
 " Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philis- 
 tines were there ; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and 
 women, that beheld while Samson made sport. 
 
 "And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I 
 pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at 
 once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. 
 
 " And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, 
 and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other 
 with his left. 
 
 "And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself 
 with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people 
 that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they 
 which he slew in his life." — Judg. xvi. 26-30. 
 
 26. He was led by a lad, of whom he asked leave to feel the pillars, 
 and to lean upon them, as if to rest from his weariness in playing 
 before the people. 
 
88 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 • 
 
 27. It was a large and imposing assemblage. Within the nouse 
 were the lords and persons of note, as it appears ; and on the flat roof 
 were about three thousand men and women who were watching the 
 sport on the ground below them. 
 
 28. The prayer of Samson was natural. It was not a prayer for the 
 forgiveness of his enemies, but for vengeance upon them. When we 
 consider the provocation he had, and the habits of the times, and the 
 people whose destruction he sought, there is no cause to be surprised 
 at his prayer, though we may condemn its spirit, and mark how far 
 it is from the gospel rules for the treatment of those who have 
 wronged us. Mark the faith of Samson, who prays to the Lord God 
 even in the presence of Dagon. 
 
 29. The roof seems to have been sustained by the two pillars on 
 which Samson leaned. He was able to take hold of both pillars, one 
 with each hand. 
 
 30. Samson had no desire to live. What joy could he have without 
 his eyes, and without the . sources of enjoyment which are open to 
 many others ? He would die with his enemies. Let the house fall 
 with them, though he was buried beneath it. He bowed himself, and 
 put forth all his strength: the pillars gave way, and the roof fell, 
 with its three thousand men and women, upon the lords and others 
 who were under it. The destruction was great: " So the dead which 
 he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life." 
 
 The Lord gave Samson strength for this final act. It was a judg- 
 ment upon the wicked and idolatrous Philistines. Samson was used 
 as a famine or plague might have been. Samson was the willing 
 instrument of divine justice. That he was avenging himself, and that 
 the plan was of his suggestion, made it none the less true that in this 
 way the Lord punished the Philistines, and with just penalties. 
 
 " Then Ms brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, 
 and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burying- 
 place of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years." — Judg. xvi. 31. 
 
 31. In the excitement caused by this sudden calamity, the brethren 
 of Samson, and other Danites, were able to obtain the body of their 
 fallen kinsman, and to give it honorable burial in the burying-place of 
 his father. Zorah and Eshtaol are mentioned in chap. xiii. 25. They 
 were in the territory of Dan. So the strong man rested where his 
 strength could avail him nothing, where the strong and the weak are 
 held by one hand. He judged Israel twenty years. " As a judge, his 
 
JUDGES. 89 
 
 authority seems to have been limited to the district bordering upor. 
 the country of the Philistines ; and his action as a deliverer does not 
 seem to have extended beyond desultory attacks upon the dominant 
 Philistines, by which their hold upon Israel was weakened, and the 
 way prepared for the future emancipation of the Israelites from their 
 yoke." Samson's twenty years in the office of judge were evidently 
 included in the forty years of the subjection of the Israelites to the 
 Philistines, and would correspond essentially to the latter half of 
 that period of subjection. Samson died, according to the usual reck- 
 oning, about B.C. 1116. His faith is commended in Heb, xi. 32. 
 
 Here we leave the Book of Judges. The remainder of the book is 
 a sort of "appendix, containing two detached narratives, — the one of 
 the establishment of the worship of Micah's graven image at Dan; 
 the second of the civil war with Benjamin." " In those days there 
 was no king in Israel : every man did that which was right in his own 
 eyes." 
 
 After Samson the next judge was Eli, and the next was Samuel, 
 with whom the office came to an end. 
 
 PRACTICAL. THOUGHTS. 
 
 1. We see in Samson great physical strength, with little intellec- 
 tual or moral strength. We see how far inferior he is to a man like 
 Joshua. 
 
 2. We see the tender mercies of the wicked, and how cruel they 
 are. 
 
 3. We see once more the power of the Lord to defend his own 
 authority, and to punish those who disregard it. 
 
 4. If the men of Judah had possessed more of Samson's spirit, they 
 might sooner have escaped from the Philistines. But read chap. 
 xv. 11. 
 
 Lesson VI. — Buth and ISTaomi. — Chap. i. 16-22. 
 
 The Book of Buth contains " another detached narrative, which 
 anciently was included under the title of Judges, to which book the 
 first verse shows that it properly belongs." 
 
 " As the great grandmother of King David, Buth must have flour- 
 ished in the latter part of Eli's judgeship, or the beginning of that 
 of Samuel ; but there seem to be no particular notes of time in the 
 book by which her age can be more exactly defined. The story was 
 8* 
 
90 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS, 
 
 put into its present shape, avowedly, long after her lifetime.' ' We 
 may place Ruth in, perhaps, the twelfth century before Christ. The 
 authorship of the book has usually been ascribed to Samuel ; but in 
 regard to this nothing is known. 
 
 The story itself is full of interest ; but, beyond this, the genealogy 
 with which the book closes is important in making up the sacred 
 genealogy. The book is of great historical worth, because it gives the 
 lineage of David, and the ancestry of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 In the days when the judges ruled, Elimelech and his wife Naomi, 
 with their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, dwellers in Bethelem-ju- 
 dah, or Ephratah as it was called in more ancient times, were forced 
 by the famine in their own land to seek a home in the country of 
 Moab, beyond the Jordan. There Elimelech died, and his sons mar- 
 ried two women of Moab. Mahlon married one named Ruth, and 
 Chilion married Orpah. 
 
 " Marriages of Israelites with women of Ammon or Moab are no- 
 where expressly forbidden, as marriages with the women of Canaan 
 were (Deut. vii. 1-3). Still in the days of Nehemiah the law (Deut. 
 xxiii. 3-6) was interpreted as forbidding them, and as excluding the 
 children of such marriages from the congregation of Israel (Neh. 
 xiii. 1-3, 23-27). . . . But probably the marriages of Mahlon and 
 Chilion would be justified by necessity, living as they were in a for- 
 eign land." Others say, " this was a violation of the Mosaic law; and 
 Jewish writers say, that the early deaths of both the young men were 
 divine judgments inflicted on them for those unlawful connec- 
 tions." 
 
 It is not necessary to adopt this harsher explanation. But, after 
 living in Moab for ten years, both of the men died. 
 
 Then the elder widow resolved to return to her own country ; "for 
 she had heard how that the Lord had visited his people in giving them 
 bread." She started on her journey; and the two younger widows 
 went out with her. It was a courteous and affectionate act to accom- 
 pany their desolate mother-in-law, at least as far as the limits of their 
 own country. When they had gone as far as Naomi thought it need- 
 ful, she bade both of her daughters-in-law to return to their mother's 
 house. She gave them her blessing, kissed them, and they wept 
 together. The younger women refused to leave the elder. She urged 
 them to return. She pitied them for their own sorrow and loneliness, 
 but would not have them share her hopeless life. At length Orpah 
 kissed Naomi, and left her; " but Ruth clave unto her." Naomi urged 
 Ruth to follow Orpah, and return to her own people and her gods. 
 This brings us to the verses chosen for the present lesson. 
 
JUDGES. 91 
 
 "And Ruth said, Entreat; me not to leave thee, or to return from following 
 after thee; for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will 
 lodge : thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God." — Ruth i. 16. 
 
 16. Ruth was determined to adhere to Naomi. This involved the 
 forsaking of her own country and its religion, and the casting-in of 
 her lot with one of another nation, whose worship and trust were 
 given to the Lord. She was very explicit and decided in her resolve. 
 To Naomi and her fortunes, her home, her people, her God, this 
 widow of the land of Moab would cling. It is an admirable instance 
 of devotion. Read of Elijah's effort to have Elisha leave him, and 
 Elisha's reply: "As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not 
 leave thee (2 Kings ii. 1-6). 
 
 " Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried : the Lord do so to me, 
 and more also, if aught but death part thee and me. 
 
 11 When she saw that she was steadfastly minded to go with her, then she left 
 speaking unto her. 
 
 " So they two went until they came to Beth-lehem. And it came to pass, when 
 they were come to Beth-lehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they 
 said, 7s this Naomi ? 
 
 " And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara; for the Almighty 
 hath dealt very bitterly with me." — Ruth i. 17-20. 
 
 17. When she should have ended her days, she would not be taken 
 back to. her own land, that her dust might mingle with its kindred 
 dust (read Gen. xlix. 29, 1. 25) : she would be buried with her 
 mother-in-law. For her she would forsake house and land, kindred 
 and friends. Her determination she confirmed by a solemn appeal 
 to the Lord. She was willing to be cut off from the Lord and his 
 covenants, if she let any thing but death part her from her mother. 
 Death could not be avoided ; but voluntary separation could. Against 
 this, she made her vow, using a form of imprecation frequently 
 found in the Books of Samuel and the Kings (see 2 Sam. hi. 9; 
 1 Sam. iii. 17, xiv. 44, xx. 13; 1 Kings ii. 23; 2 Kings vi. 31). 
 
 18. Naomi saw that her resistance was useless, and " left speaking 
 to her." Earnestly as she had reasoned against Ruth's purpose, she 
 must have been deeply affected by her devotion, and greatly pleased 
 at the affection which it displayed. 
 
 19. All the city of Bethlehem was moved by the return of Naomi. 
 Iler old neighbors and friends greeted her with eagerness. Her 
 changed appearance astonished them. She was like, and yet unlike, 
 the woman who left them with her husband and sons a few years 
 before. "And they said, Is this Naomi?" "They" is feminine. 
 This was the inquiry of the women of Bethlehem. 
 
92 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 20. It was Naomi, but sadly changed. Her name meant "pleas- 
 ant," " sweet." She would be called Mara, " bitter" (Exod. xv. 23). 
 It was common to denote the condition by the name. 
 
 " The name Almighty is almost peculiar to the Pentateuch, and to 
 the Book of Job, in which last it is found thirty times. It occurs 
 twice in the Psalms, and four times in the prophets." 
 
 Naomi felt that her troubles were from the Lord (see Job xxvii. 2). 
 
 " I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty : why, then, 
 call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty 
 hath afflicted me ? 
 
 " So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, 
 which returned out of the country of Moab ; and they came to Beth-lehem in the 
 beginning of the barley harvest." —Ruth i. 21, 22. 
 
 21. She had left Bethlehem with her husband and two sons : she 
 came back only with the widow of one of her sons. She felt herself 
 empty. Family, home, hope, were gone. Her reasoning was, that, 
 in taking away her family, the Lord was bearing witness to her sins. 
 The chastisement declared the fault for which it was inflicted (read 
 Job viii. 6, xi. 6). Why should she, who was sorely stricken for her 
 sins, be still called Naomi ? 
 
 22. This was the way, this was the spirit, in which the widow of 
 Elimelech came home. She was not utterly desolate. One faithful 
 heart clung to her in evil as in good. The younger woman was known 
 as the Moabitess (chap. ii. 6) : she was " the Moabitish damsel that 
 came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab." It is a touch- 
 ing description of her. She had left Moab for Bethlehem-judah. She 
 had left her own mother for her mother-in-law. She had turned 
 from all that was hopeful in her life to attend upon the widowed 
 Mara. Stranger though she was, all this must have commended her 
 to the people of Bethlehem. 
 
 They came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest, which 
 was at the end of what is our March. 
 
 The rest of the story is full of simplicity and beauty. Ruth gleaned 
 in the field of her rich kinsman, Boaz, and finally became his wife. 
 Thus was her fidelity rewarded. She found riches and friends and 
 home. She gained high honor for herself, and gave honor to her 
 nation, and her adopted people. 
 
 Her son was Obed, the father of J&sse, the father of David. Thus 
 she became the ancestress of " Great David's greater Son." In the 
 genealogy of our Lord her name has its place (Matt. i. 5). 
 
JUDGES. 93 
 
 Moab was the grandson of Lot by his elder daughter, and the 
 progenitor of the Moabites. Ben-Ammi was also the grandson of Lot 
 by his younger daughter; and he was the progenitor of the Ammon- 
 ites. These two peoples were closely connected through their whole 
 history. " Indeed, so close was their union, and so near their 
 identity, that each would appear to be occasionally spoken of under 
 the name of the other." In the separation of Abram and Lot was 
 the beginning of the separation which was to be between oheir de- 
 scendants. Israel was to have its history ; Moab and Ammon theirs : 
 and between the two lines there must be no agreement. Alienation, 
 hatred, warfare, marked the relation of the two families and nations. 
 In Deut. xxiii. 3-6, we find the Ammonite and Moabite forbidden to 
 enter into the congregation of the Lord. They were hostile to the 
 Israelites at their approach to Canaan ; and afterwards they hired 
 Baalam to curse Israel. Israel served the Lord : Moab bowed before 
 Baal. In Ruth i. 15, we find that Orpah went back " unto her 
 gods." 
 
 The separation was therefore marked between Israel and Moab 
 from the days of Abram and Lot ; and the advantage, in all respects, 
 was with Israel, who served Jehovah. But here we find the two 
 lines coming together. In Ruth Moab becomes connected at one 
 point with Israel. Her son Obed has the blood of both Israel and 
 Moab in his veins ; so Jesse ; so David. Through Ruth the Moabite 
 came into the congregation of the Lord. 
 
 There is another point of meeting for the two alien lines. Rahab of 
 Jericho, who, for her faith, and her kindness to Israel, was spared at 
 the destruction of the city, married Salmon, who, possibly, was one 
 of the spies whose life she saved. Salmon was descended from 
 Judah, and so from Abraham, as we read in Matt. i. 2-4. Here, 
 then, was a marriage between an Israelite and a Canaanite. She had, 
 by her friendship for Israel, separated herself from her people, and 
 expressed her faith in the God of Israel. " I know that the Lord 
 hath given you the land," she said. " The Lord your God, he is 
 God in heaven above, and in earth beneath" (Josh. ii. 9, 11). By 
 her conduct she showed herself worthy of marriage with an Israelite ; 
 and an exception might well be made in her favor. The son of 
 Salmon and Rahab was Boaz, who became the husband of Ruth, and 
 the ancestor of David. Thus the two lines of Israel and Canaan 
 meet. Canaan was the fourth son of Ham. Noah's curse was upon 
 the family: "Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be 
 unto his brethren. . . . Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and 
 Canaan shall be his servant" (Gen. ix. 25, 26). But Shem and Ham 
 came together in the marriage of Salmon and Rahab, and in the person 
 
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 of their son Boaz, who joined Moab to himself when he married Ruth. 
 Obed, therefore, had the blood of three families in him. The Israelite, 
 the Canaanite, and the Moabite blend in him. So, also, in David. 
 And our Lord Jesus Christ, of the house of David, had kinship with 
 the Gentiles. In each case the Israelite predominated, and was at 
 the head of the alliance. Salmon, the man, the father, was the 
 Israelite, and Boaz in his turn. But it is interesting to think that 
 our Saviour, the Saviour of Jew and Gentile, was connected by blood 
 with the Gentiles as well as with the Jews. When he thought of 
 his own ancestry, of the gentle Ruth, from whom, according to the 
 flesh, he was descended, we can easily believe that he had a special 
 tenderness towards those who were " aliens from the commonwealth 
 of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise." His purpose 
 embraced them with the Jews ; and he bade his disciples preach his 
 gospel to every creature in all the world. Large honor came to 
 Ruth, an illustrious connection, an eternal delight, through her 
 constancy towards the stricken Naomi. 
 
 PEACTICAL THOUGHTS. 
 
 1. The devotion of Ruth beautifully illustrates the devotion which 
 the Saviour requires of us all. We must be willing to leave all, and 
 follow him. Put Christ in Naomi's place, and say to him what is 
 written in Ruth i. 16, 17. 
 
 2. Here is illustrated, also, the promise of the Lord, — that those 
 who leave all for him shall have manifold more in this present time, 
 and an exceeding reward in the world to come. Ruth greatly blessed 
 herself when she gave herself to Mara and her God. 
 
 3. Mark the difference between a regard for Christ, and the conse- 
 cration he asks. Orpah felt kindly towards her mother-in-law. She 
 wept with her, and kissed her ; but she left her, and went back to her 
 own people. Ruth loved and wept; but she also " clave unto her." 
 Between the kissing and the cleaving is a world-wide difference. It 
 is not enough to esteem Christ, and wish him well : we must give 
 ourselves to him for life and death. 
 
 4. The whole story encourages us to do right, to be noble and 
 good. 
 
 5. The genealogy of the Saviour should bring him very near to our 
 hearts, and strengthen our confidence in him. 
 
SAMUEL. 95 
 
 Lesson TIL — A Peaying Mother. — Chap. i. 21-28. 
 
 The two books of Samuel are called also the First and Second Book 
 of the Kings. Both names are fitting. The books contain the his- 
 tory of the life and career of Samuel, and also of the rise of the 
 kingdom of Israel. The books cover about one hundred and forty 
 years, perhaps from B.C. 1155 to B.C. 1015. The authorship of the 
 books cannot be ascertained. The prevalent opinion has been, that 
 Samuel wrote the greater part of the first book (chap, i.-xxiv.), and 
 that Nathan and Gad completed the work (see 1 Chron. xxix. 29). 
 
 At the opening of this book, Eli was judge and high priest. Elka- 
 nah, who is named in ver. 1, was of Bamah. The name Bamathaim 
 is the dual form of Bamah, and means " the two hills," upon which, 
 it is probable, the town was built. The force of Zophim is not 
 clearly known. In chap. ix. 5 we have " the land of Zuph." Zuph 
 seems to have been the head of the Zuphites, or sons of Zuph, from 
 whom the land took its name. This Zuph, as we see in this verse, 
 was one of the ancestors of Elkanah. From Zuph the name Zophim 
 was added to Bamah. The precise situation of the place cannot be 
 determined. Elkanah lived in the domain of Ephraim, and is called 
 an Ephrathite. He had two wives, as the law allowed, or tolerated 
 (Deut. xxi. 15). One had sons and daughters; but the other, Han- 
 nah, had no child. This was a great grief to her. She poured out 
 her sorrow before the Lord, who listened to her prayer. When her 
 son was born, she named him Samuel, i.e., " Heard of God," saying, 
 " Because I have asked him of the Lord." 
 
 " And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer unto the Lord the 
 yearly sacrifice, and his vow. 
 
 "But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up 
 until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before 
 the Lord, and there abide forever. 
 
 "And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good: tarry 
 until thou have weaned him ; only the Lord establish his word. So the woman 
 abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him. 
 
 " And, when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bul- 
 locks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the 
 house of the Lord in Shiloh: and the child was young." — 1 Sam. i. 21-24. 
 
 21. Of this yearly sacrifice which Elkanah made, we read in ver. 3. 
 He made this year by year (see chap. xx. 6). This seems to have 
 been different from the three great feasts of the nation. It appears 
 to have been a domestic festival. " It is likely, that, during the unset- 
 tled times of the judges, the attendance of Israelites at the three 
 festivals fell into desuetude or great irregularity ; and this one feast, 
 
96 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 
 which may have coincided with the feast of Pentecost or Tabernacles, 
 may have been substituted for them," In ver. 11 we read that Han- 
 nah made a vow. Perhaps her husband had joined with her in mak- 
 ing it. In regard to the connection of the husband with the vow of 
 his wife, read Num. xxx. For the offering with a vow, read Lev. vii. 16. 
 
 22. The child would not be weaned, according to the Hebrew usage, 
 until he was two, or perhaps three years old. When this time was 
 reached, Hannah would take Samuel up to the tabernacle at Shiloh, 
 and leave him there. " Forever" would be as long as he should 
 live (see Ps. xxiii. 6). 
 
 23. In ver. 17 we have the blessing which Eli gave to Hannah. 
 This blessing was taken as a promise ; or, possibly, more was said in 
 the way of direct promise than is here recorded. The word of the 
 high priest was regarded by Hannah and her husband as the word of 
 the Lord. This was the word, apparently, which Elkanah prayed the 
 Lord would establish. 
 
 24. In due time, Hannah went with her son to Shiloh. We here 
 have three bullocks : in the next verse we have one bullock, or the 
 bullock, offered. Instead of three bullocks, it would be better to read, 
 with the Septuagint, " a bullock of three years old " (see Gen. xv. 9). 
 But she took an ephah of flour ; while three-tenths of an ephah (ISTum. 
 xxviii. 12) was sufficient for the meat-offering to accompany one 
 bullock. An ephah was a little more than three pecks. She went up 
 to make her offering unto the Lord who had blessed her. 
 
 " And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli. 
 
 "And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that 
 stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord. 
 
 "For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I 
 asked of him : 
 
 " Therefore, also, I have lent him to the Lord: as long as he liveth he shall be 
 lent to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there." — 1 Sam. i. 25-28. 
 
 25. Eli stood as the representative of the Lord. Before him she 
 presented herself with her child, when her sacrifice had been made. 
 
 " As thy soul liveth." This form of oath, or asseveration, is found 
 six times in these books, and once in the Books of Kings. It is not 
 found elsewhere. "As the Lord liveth" is found often at this 
 period, which was "characteristically the age of vows." The former 
 visit of Hannah is recorded in vers. 9-19. Then Eli at first thought 
 her drunken from her demeanor. When he learned her grief and 
 desire, he blessed her. Now he saw her rejoicing. It was fitting that 
 her thanks should be given where her petition had been made. 
 
SAMUEL. 97 
 
 27. Eli said (ver. 17), " Tlie God of Israel grant thee thy petition 
 that thou hast asked of him." Presenting her child, the living an- 
 swer to her prayer, she repeated his words : " The Lord hath given me 
 my petition which I asked of him. 
 
 28. "I have lent him to the Lord," or I have " returned him whom 
 I have obtained by petition, to the Lord." The word "lent" is the 
 same which is translated "asked" in ver. 20, but in another conju- 
 gation. As she had asked, so would she give, even to the same end. 
 She did not design to call him back ; for he was to be the Lord's " as 
 long as he liveth." 
 
 The worship was Hannah's ; but it was in connection with her boy, 
 and in his behalf. Doubtless he joined, as far as his age would 
 enable him. 
 
 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 
 
 1. In our need we should pray. 
 
 2. When we are answered, we should give thanks. 
 
 3. Whatever God gives should be given back to him in consecra- 
 tion. 
 
 4. Children should be taught that they belong to God, and that 
 they are to worship him. 
 
 5. Samuel was greatly blessed in his mother ; but all mothers can 
 be like Hannah in piety, and their children will have the benefit. 
 
 6. If it was easy to give a child to the unseen God, it should be 
 easier to give one to Him who took little children in his arms, and 
 blessed them. 
 
 Lessoist VIII. — The Child Samuel. — Chap. iii. 1-10. 
 
 " And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of 
 the Lord was precious in those days : there was no open vision. 
 
 " And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and 
 his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see ; 
 
 " And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark 
 of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep " — 1 Sam. iii. 1-3. 
 
 1. We have a brief account of Samuel's ministry in chap. ii. 18, 
 19. From 1 Chron. vi. 16, 22, 23, we learn that Samuel was a Levite : 
 
98 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 it was therefore proper that he should serve the priest. He was 
 girded with a linen ephod, like the sacred vestment worn by the 
 priests, but of coarser material. Every year his mother made him " a 
 little coat," a garment to be worn under the ephod, reaching to the 
 feet. We read of this coat afterward (see 1 Sam. xv. 27, xxviii. 14) : 
 in those places it is called a mantle. Even in his boyhood Samuel 
 wore the priest's dress in part, thus giving token of the high duties 
 which were to be laid upon him. 
 
 The work of Samuel appears to have been to put out the light on 
 the sacred candlestick, and at sunrise to open the doors. He lived in 
 one of the tents or apartments around the sanctuary, and near to the 
 high priest. He was in immediate attendance upon Eli. 
 
 The word of the Lord came to him, and was spoken by him. In 
 Acts iii. 24, we find him called a prophet. Such declarations of the 
 divine will were especially precious. There was then no one publicly 
 recognized as the prophet of the Lord, who was to be consulted by 
 the people. "No open vision" may be rendered, " there was no 
 vision promulgated or published." 
 
 2. Eli was an old man ; and his eyes were waxing dim, that he could 
 not see (see Gen. xxvii. 1). Eli had laid himself down to sleep. 
 
 3. Samuel, also, was laid down to sleep. The lamp was still burning 
 in the tabernacle. The lamp was the golden candlestick which bore the 
 light. It was lighted at evening, and dressed every morning (Exod. 
 
 7, 8). " The temple " was then the tabernacle. 
 
 " That the Lord called Samuel; and he answered, Here am I. 
 
 " And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I ; for thou calledst me. And he 
 said, I called not : lie down again. And he went and lay down. 
 
 " And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose, and went to Eli, 
 and said, Here am I ; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my 
 son : lie down again. 
 
 " Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet 
 revealed unto him. 
 
 " And the Lord called Samuel again' the third time. And he arose, and went to 
 Eli, and said, Here am I ; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the 
 Lord had called the child. 
 
 u Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down : and it shall be, if he call thee, 
 that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and 
 lay down in his place. 
 
 " And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times. Samuel, Samuel. 
 Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth." — 1 Sam. iii. 4-10. 
 
 4. "Here am I" is, literally, "Behold me." It was a customary 
 answer when one was called (vers. 5, 6, 8, 16 ; Gen. xxii. 1, 7 ; Exod. 
 iii. 4). 
 
SAMUEL. 99 
 
 5. Eli was, very likely, accustomed to call him when he needed any 
 thing for himself or the tabernacle services. Being old, and of dim 
 vision, he would be likely to avail himself, even at night, of the aid of 
 his youthful assistant. If Eli had never been known to call him, 
 when Samuel heard his name spoken, he would naturally think it was 
 Eli who was speaking. 
 
 He hastened to the aged priest, to find that he had not called. 
 Then he went and lay down again as he was bidden. 
 
 6. All this was repeated, — the call, the answer, the return to his 
 couch. 
 
 7. Samuel did not yet know that the Lord was likely to speak to 
 him. He was not looking for a revelation. The Lord as he was to 
 be to him he did not know. 
 
 8. Again he was called. Again he went to Eli. At length the 
 priest understood the matter. He " perceived that the Lord had 
 called the child." 
 
 9. He changed his directions to Samuel. He was to lie down as 
 before. If again he heard his name called, he was not to run to Eli, 
 but to make answer to the Lord, " Speak, Lord; for thy servant 
 heareth." 
 
 10. This time there was more than a voice. The words indicate "a 
 personal presence." " The Lord came, and stood, and called as at 
 other times" (Gen. xviii. 17, 33; Judg. vi. 14). Samuel obeyed Eli, 
 and answered, " Speak; for thy servant heareth." The Lord an- 
 nounced to Samuel the destruction of Eli's house; and in the 
 morning, at the bidding of the high priest, Samuel was obliged to 
 tell him what he had heard. Eli accepted the revelation, and bowed 
 submissively to his fate: "It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth 
 him good." 
 
 Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him. Soon all Israel knew 
 that he was " established to be a prophet of the Lord." And the 
 Lord made to him other revelations at Shiloh. 
 
 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 
 
 1. Children can be useful in connection with the sanctuary and its 
 services. 
 
 2. Samuel's prompt obedience of what he thought to be Eli's call is 
 worthy of imitation. 
 
100 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 3. Samuol's prompt answer when lie learned that he was hearing 
 the Lord's voice is worthy of imitation. 
 
 4. Samuel's truthfulness in telling Eli all that he had heard, hard 
 as it must have been, deserves imitation. 
 
 5. Eli's submission to the will of the Lord shows a pious heart. 
 What the Lord will do is right. 
 
 Lesson IX. — The Death of Eli. —-Chap. iv. 12-18. 
 
 The opening words of this chapter are naturally connected with 
 the close of the preceding chapter. 
 
 The mention in ver. 1 of the Philistines " connects the narrative 
 with Judg. xiii.-xvi., which is the last time the Philistines were 
 mentioned, when the relations between the two people were of the 
 same kind as they appear here, — struggles, not as yet effectual, on the 
 part of Israel, to throw off the Philistine yoke." The latter years 
 of Eli's service as judge and the early part of Samuel's judgeship 
 seem to have been " coincident with the lifetime of Samson." 
 
 The character of the two sons of Eli is given in chap. ii. They 
 were sons of Belial. Belial is not to be taken as a proper name, but 
 as the personification of worthlessness, lawlessness. They grossly 
 abused the office of priest, which they held. " The sin of the young 
 men was very great before the Lord ; for men abhorred the offering 
 of the Lord." Eli knew their wickedness, and remonstrated with 
 them, but not with the decision and force he should have used. 
 "His sons made themselves vile ; and he restrained them not." It 
 was announced to Eli by the "man of God" (chap. ii. 27, 34) that 
 they should both die in one day. By Samuel, also, the Lord an- 
 nounced to Eli that his house should be judged, and its iniquity not 
 "purged with sacrifice nor offering forever." 
 
 "The Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten; and they fled 
 every man into his tent." Thirty thousand footmen of Israel fell. 
 
 " And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the 
 same day, with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head." —1 Sam. iv. 12. 
 
 12. The batt-e was between Eben-ezer and Aphek (chap. iv. 1). 
 Eben-ezer was a name afterward given (chap. vii. 12). It was a little 
 north of Jerusalem; but its precise place cannot be determined. 
 Aphek was at the north-west of Jerusalem, and not very far distant. 
 
8AM U EL. 101 
 
 After the rout of Israel, a man of the tribe of Benjamin ran to 
 Shiloh with the sad tidings. Eunners were often employed in ancient 
 days for sending news (2 Sam. xviii. 19, 27). Footmen often attended 
 the chariots in which persons of distinction were riding (2 Sam. xv. 1; 
 Jer. xii. 5). This runner showed the nature of his message by his 
 rent clothes, and the earth upon his head. These were the marks of 
 calamity and grief ( 2 Sam. i. 2; Josh. vii. 6). 
 
 " And when he came, lo, EH sat upon a seat by the wayside, watching; for his 
 heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and 
 told it, all the city cried out." — 1 Sam. iv. 13. 
 
 13. Eli was on his official seat, mentioned in chap. i. 9. " This 
 seat was probably set at the gate leading into the inner court of the 
 tabernacle." In that place he could quickly receive any news from 
 the army. The most natural understanding of his position implies 
 that he sat by the side of the gate, watching the road by which tid- 
 ings would come. 
 
 After the first defeat of the Israelites, the elders advised that the 
 ark of the Lord be brought from Shiloh to the battle-field. This was 
 done. At the coming of the ark, the Israelites shouted with a great 
 shout; and the Philistines were alarmed. They saw the presence of 
 the God who smote the Egyptians, and feared for themselves.; but 
 urging one another to bravery, incited to special heroism by their 
 leaders, they renewed the conflict (vers. 3-9). Hophni and Phinehas 
 were with the ark. But the heart of Eli was chiefly anxious concern- 
 ing the ark, whose guardian he was. 
 
 The high priest rose above the father, and he trembled for the ark. 
 The runner entered the city, and made known the utter defeat of the 
 army of Israel. 'The city cried out in distress and alarm. 
 
 " And, when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What meaneth the noise 
 of this tumult? And the man came in hastily, and told Eli. 
 
 " Now Eli was ninety and eight years old ; and his eyes were dim, that he could 
 not see. 
 
 " And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled 
 to-day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son? 
 
 " And the messenger answered, and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, 
 and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons 
 also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken. 
 
 " And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell 
 from off the seat backward by the side of the gate ; and his neck brake, and he 
 died : for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years." 
 — 1 Sam. iv. 14-18. 
 
 14. Eli heard the crying, and asked the meaning of it. The runner 
 went in where the high priest was, and gav r him the dreaded intelli- 
 gence.. 
 
 9* 
 
102 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 15. Eli was ninety-eight years old. The word here rendered " dim " 
 is different from that so translated in chap. iii. 2. The word here 
 means "stood." "His eyes were set by reason of his age. The 
 phrase seems to express the fixed state of the blind eye, which is not 
 affected by the light. Eli's blindness, while it made him alive to 
 sounds, prevented his seeing the rent garments and dust-besprinkled 
 head of the messenger of bad tidings.' ' 
 
 16. Apparently, the battle had taken place on the morning of that 
 day, and within a distance over which a runner could pass in a few 
 hours. He told Eli whence he came. Eli spoke to him as an old 
 man to one young, calling him, "My son" (see Josh. vii. 19; Ruth 
 ii. 8). His inquiry was like that afterwards made by David (2 Sam, 
 i. 4) : " How went the matter ? " 
 
 17. Heavy were the tidings. The news grew worse as he went on. 
 Israel had fled before the Philistines. There had been a great 
 slaughter of the people. Eli's sons were both dead. To crown the 
 calamities, "The ark of God is taken." 
 
 18. The old man's heart was sad; but he kept his place till he 
 heard that the ark was taken from him and his people, and was in 
 the hands of their enemies and the Lord's. Then he fell backward 
 from his seat, and his neck brake ; and he died. His seat was without 
 a back ; and he fell heavily to the ground. His heart was broken ; 
 then his neck was broken. His long life was ended. He had judged 
 Israel forty years. 
 
 He felt the wickedness of his sons. He knew that he had not 
 properly controlled them. He mourned their untimely end. He 
 mourned more for the ark, which had so long been in his keeping. 
 Perhaps he reproached hinself for letting it go from the tabernacle. 
 It seemed to him that the Lord was no longer with his people. The 
 burden was greater than he could bear. His sorrow at the loss of the 
 ark witnesses to his piety. The date given for the death of Eli is 
 B.C. 1116. 
 
 Eli was descended from Ithamar, the youngest son of Aaron. How 
 the office of high priest came into this line, we are not told. Eli 
 appears to have been the first of the house of Ithamar who held it. 
 He was the first man who was both priest and judge ; the only one, 
 unless we call Samuel a priest. Perhaps some heroic deed in his 
 younger days led to his appointment as judge. If he had been a man 
 of strong character, he might have united the Jewish Church and 
 State. He was a good man, but an over-indulgent f ather ; and his 
 leniency was the ruin of his sons, and the destruction of his house. 
 
SAMUEL. 103 
 
 PBACTICAL THOUGHTS. 
 
 1. Zeal for the house of God is a noble trait. 
 
 2. When the Lord has departed, the nation, the man, is undone. 
 
 3. It is a mistaken kindness which allows children to have their 
 own way. 
 
 4. Children should obey their parents in the Lord. 
 
 Lesson X. — Samuel the Judge. — Chap. vii. 5-12. 
 
 The great event which happened between the death of Eli and the 
 events recorded in this passage was the return of the ark of the Lord. 
 The ark abode in Kirjath-jearim, some nine miles north-west of Jeru- 
 salem, for twenty years. It may have been because the country 
 around Shiloh was held by the Philistines, that the ark was not 
 restored to its place. 
 
 The Israelites again fell into idolatry. They went after strange 
 gods. Baalim and Ashtaroth are mentioned. Samuel bade the people 
 put away their idolatry, and return unto the Lord with all their 
 hearts, and serve him only. Then he would deliver them from the 
 Philistines. They obeyed his words, and served the Lord only. 
 
 " And Samuel said, Gather all Israel at Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto 
 the Lord. 
 
 "And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out 
 before the Lord, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against 
 the Lord. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh." — 1 Sam. vii. 5. 6. 
 
 5. When they had put away the strange gods, Samuel was ready to 
 pray for them. He called an assembly at Mizpeh. This was a city 
 of Benjamin, and therefore near at hand (Josh, xviii. 26). Joshua 
 gathered the tribes at Shechem (Josh. xxiv. 1). When they came 
 together, he would make intercession for them, as Moses had done 
 (Exod. xvii. 11, 12). 
 
 The last previous mention of Samuel is in chap. iv. 1. After 
 twenty years, he appears as the leader of the people. He was judge 
 and prophet. He exercised his office in humility. He trusted not to 
 himself to deliver Israel. He became a suppliant for his repentant 
 people. 
 
104 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 6. The people gathered at Mizpeh. They " drew water, and poured 
 it out before the Lord, and fasted on that day." These were religious, 
 symbolic acts. At the Feast of Tabernacles, the high priest poured 
 from a golden vessel water that had been brought from the Pool of 
 Siloam. Five da\s before this feast was the Day of Atonement, when 
 the only fast enjoined by the law of Moses was observed. The rites 
 at Mizpeh, possibly, had reference to those observances ; and perhaps 
 the gathering at Mizpeh was at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, 
 which was in the autumn, when the fruits were gathered in (read 
 Ez. iii. 4; Neh. viii. 16-18). 
 
 The meaning of these two acts at Mizpeh cannot be determined. 
 They were connected with the confession of sin. Fasting — the 
 mortification of the flesh, the afflicting of the soul — is appropriately 
 joined to contrition. Water usually denotes cleansing, and may 
 have that meaning here ; or it may here signify the ruin and weakness 
 of the people, who were " as water spilt on the ground" (see 2 Sam. 
 xiv. 14; Ps. xxii. 14). 
 
 The people confessed their guilt. "We have sinned against the 
 Lord." They may have expressed by the water the desire that 
 their sin and misery might be " as waters that pass away" (Job xi. 16). 
 
 This appears to have been the beginning of the judgeship of Sam- 
 uel. His service in the office seems to date from this event at Mizpeh. 
 
 " And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered 
 together to Mizpeh, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And, when 
 the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 
 
 " And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the Lord our 
 God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines. 
 
 " And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a burnt offering wholly 
 unto the Lord : and Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel ; and the Lord heard 
 him." — 1 Sam. vii. 7-9. 
 
 7. The Philistines heard that the children of Israel were assembled at 
 Mizpeh; and, anticipating evil from the meeting, they "went up 
 against Israel." The lords of the Philistines went up. doubtless, in 
 large force. The Israelites heard of their coming, and were greatly 
 affrighted. 
 
 8. The people depended on Samuel. They begged him to remember 
 their peril, and to cry unto the Lord — now, "the Lord our God," — 
 for deliverance from the approaching enemy. 
 
 9. Before Samuel prayed, he offered sacrifice. The sacrifice was 
 itself a petition, and prepared the way for the request he was to pre- 
 sent. In regard to the offering of a young lamb, see Lev. xxii. 27. 
 
SAMUEL. 105 
 
 For the law of burnt offerings, see Lev. i. 10-13. He seems to have 
 offered the lamb whole, as a burnt offering. And the Lord answered 
 him. 
 
 "And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near 
 to battle against Israel : but the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day 
 upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israeh 
 
 14 And the men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and pursued the Philistines, and 
 smote them, until they came under Beth-car. 
 
 " Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called 
 the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." — 1 Sam. 
 vii. 10-12. 
 
 10. The Philistines drew near for battle while Samuel was making 
 his offering. The Lord thundered mightily upon them, and discom- 
 fited them. "They were smitten before Israel.' ' The prayer of 
 Samuel was answered ; his sacrifice was accepted ; the repentance of 
 the people was rewarded. 
 
 11. The men of Israel pursued their panic-stricken foes, and smote 
 them. Beth-car is mentioned only in this place. It seems to have 
 been on a height, from the expression, "under Beth-car.' ' It was 
 between Mizpeh and the territory of the Philistines. 
 
 12. Mizpeh, as we have seen, was in the portion of Benjamin. This . 
 is the only mention we have of Shen, of which we know only what is 
 here narrated. A stone was a very natural memorial of the event to 
 be commemorated. Eben-ezer we had in chap. iv. 1, by anticipa- 
 tion of the name. The name means " the stone of help." 
 
 So the Philistines were subdued. They gave back the cities they 
 had taken from Israel. As long as Samuel ruled, the hand of the 
 Lord was for Israel, and against the Philistines, who "came no more 
 into the coast of Israel." 
 
 " Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life." In the latter years 
 of his life, Saul was king, which, of course, made a change in Sam- 
 uel's duties. 
 
 His home was at Kamah, and thence he went on a circuit from 
 year to year, taking three places also in Benjamin for his official sta- 
 tions. When he was old, he appointed his sons as judges under him, 
 They were judges in Beersheba, in the far south of Palestine. 
 
 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 
 
 1. Confession of sin should precede prayer for r aercy. Head 1 John 
 i. 8, 9. 
 
106 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 2. When sinners have come into peril, they desire the prayers of 
 godly persons. Few are so hardened that they do not wish for reli- 
 gious counsel when they think they are dying. It is better to turn to 
 God, and associate with his people, while we are well. 
 
 3. Note the power of intercessory prayer. 
 
 4. Mark once more the patience and kindness of God towards his 
 people. 
 
 Lesson XI. — A Kma desired. — Chap. viii. 4-9. 
 
 The sons of Samuel did not inherit the virtue of their father. 
 They "took bribes, and perverted judgment." 
 
 " Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to 
 Samuel unto Hainan, 
 
 " And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways : 
 now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. 
 
 " But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. 
 And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. 
 
 "And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all 
 that they say unto thee; for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected 
 me, that I should not reign over them." — 1 Sam. viii. 4-7. 
 
 4. Samuel was still the head of the nation ; and to him, at Ramah, 
 where his home was, the elders of Israel came together to make their 
 want known. 
 
 5. They desired to have a king like the nations around them. 
 Samuel was too old to be their head, and his sons were not worthy to 
 succeed him. It is not strange that this relief from their political 
 troubles occurred to them. It is interesting to notice that Moses, 
 under divine inspiration, foresaw the time when the Israelites would 
 call for a king : see Deut. xvii. 14-20, where we have the duties of a 
 king set forth long in advance of the time when there would be the 
 king to discharge them. TheMesire is more fully declared in ver. 
 20. They wanted both a civil and a military leader. Surrounded 
 with enemies, they wished to be able* to cope with them. They felt 
 the need of a strong martial arm. 
 
 6. Samuel was displeased at this request. It indicated a want of 
 confidence in him. They were rejecting him. This was trying to 
 the good old man. Should he refuse the request ? Should he reason 
 with them ? First, he would lay the matter before the Lord. Like 
 a wise man, like an artless child, he prayed, seeking wisdom. 
 
SAMUEL. 107 
 
 7. He did well. The Lord promptly replied to him. He bade him 
 listen to the people, and give them a king. Mark how gently he 
 quiets the troubled heart of his aged servant. It was not Samuel 
 who was rejected, but the Lord, who already was their king, who 
 had made them a nation, written their constitution, prescribed their 
 laws, given them a country, fought their battles. Now they desired 
 a man for king. He had appointed Samuel as their judge. They 
 wanted another man before he was removed. They had not called 
 upon God in their trouble, or taken counsel with Samuel. They 
 resolved to adopt the form of government under which the heathen 
 lived and fought. This was more than discontent with Samuel: 
 " They have rejected me, that I should not reign over them." 
 
 " According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought 
 them up out of Egypt, even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and 
 served other gods, so do they also unto thee. 
 
 " Now, therefore, hearken unto their voice : howbeit yet protest solemnly 
 unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them." 
 —1 Sam. viii. 8, 9. 
 
 8. This was not the beginning of their ingratitude. The whole 
 march from Egypt was marked with murmuring and rebellion. 
 They lapsed into idolatry, repented when calamity came, fell again 
 into evil ways, repeating their inconstancy and impiety. They 
 forsook the Lord, and served other gods: so were they doing now 
 with Samuel. Yet let him bear it, as the Lord had borne it. 
 
 9. He was to hearken to their request. He was to show them the 
 folly of their proposal ; to let them see the manner of the king they 
 would have, and the oppression they would be called to endure. 
 They would come to cry unto the Lord for deliverance, and the Lord 
 would not hear them. They should be left to reap according to their 
 wilful and wicked sowing. This, Samuel was to show the people. 
 If they persisted in their desire, he was to make them a king (read 
 Hos. xiii. 9-11; Acts xiii. 20, 21). 
 
 Samuel told the words of the Lord to the people, and described the 
 life they would have under a king. They would not follow his 
 counsel: "ISTay; but we will have a king over us." Again Samuel 
 went to the Lord. He was bidden to make the king ; and he sent 
 every man to his own city. 
 
 PRACTICAL, THOUGHTS. 
 
 1. It seems strange that Samuel, like Eli, should have bad sons. 
 We do not know what was defective in Samuel's domestic govern- 
 
108 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 merit. But good people are not to take it for granted that their chil- 
 dren will be good in whatever way they are brought up. 
 
 2. Ingratitude is base. 
 
 3. Ingratitude to man is far less base than ingratitude to God. If 
 he can bear with those who sin against him in wronging us, surely 
 we should be forbearing and forgiving. 
 
 4. When we complain of the ingratitude of men toward us, let us 
 see how our ingratitude toward God looks. 
 
 5. In every trouble, be it great or small, let us pray. 
 
 6. Rulers should pray. To have the charge of a child, a family, a 
 school, a nation, is a responsible thing ; and we should always ask 
 divine guidance. 
 
 Lesson XII. — Saul chosen. — Chap. x. 17-24. 
 
 The people were determined to have a king. Samuel was directed 
 to make them a king. % 
 
 In chap. ix. 1, 2, we have a portrait of Saul, a young man, tall and 
 comely, the son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin. Seeking the lost 
 asses of his father, he came to Samuel to ask him, as a seer, whither he 
 should go. He was to give him, as his fee, a quarter of a shekel, or 
 about twelve cents. That was one side. 
 
 A day before Saul came, the Lord told Samuel that the man was 
 coming whom he should anoint to be captain over Israel. That was 
 the other side. Saul went to Samuel, who, greatly to his surprise, 
 entertained him at a feast, talked with him, and in the morning went 
 abroad with him, and, sending the servant in advance, took a vial of 
 oil, and poured it on the young man's head, anointing him to be cap- 
 tain over the Lord's inheritance. He gave him three signs, by way 
 of confirmation ; all of which came to pass. And the spirit of God 
 came upon Saul, so that he prophesied ; and he went up to the high 
 place at Gibeah to worship. 
 
 " And Samuel called the people together unto the Lord to Mizpeh; 
 
 " And said unto the children of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I 
 brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyp- 
 tians, and out of the hand of all kingdoms, and of them that oppressed you." — 
 1 Sam. x. 17, 18. 
 
 IT. Then Samuel called the people together at Mizpeh, to give them 
 their king. By the words, " Unto the Lord," it would seem that the 
 
SAMUEL. 109 
 
 ark was at Mizpeh at this time. It was important that the Lord's 
 presence should be fully realized. 
 
 18. Samuel began with a recital of the circumstances in which they 
 were assembled. He spoke by divine authority. He reminded them 
 that the Lord had brought them from the house of bondage, and 
 saved them from their oppressors. 
 
 " And ye have tliis day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all 
 your adversities and your tribulations ; and ye have said unto him, Nay, but set a 
 king over us. Now, therefore, present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes, 
 and by your thousands. 
 
 " And, when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, the tribe 
 of Benjamin was taken. 
 
 " When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, 
 the family of Matri was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken ; and, when 
 they sought him, he could not be found. 
 
 " Therefore they inquired of the Lord further, if the man should yet come 
 thither. And the Lord answered, Behold, he hath hid himself among the stuff. 
 
 " And they ran and fetched him thence ; and, when he stood among the people, 
 he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward." — 1 Sam. 
 x. 19-23. 
 
 19. He showed them that they had rejected God, who had saved 
 them, displaying his power and his regard for them. They were not 
 content to remain under his guidance and defence alone: they 
 would have a king. The Lord would give them a king. 
 
 Although the king was already privately chosen, yet the choice was 
 to be openly ratified by the Lord. The king was to be found by the lot. 
 The people were to come before the Lord, or before the ark, by tribes, 
 and divisions of tribes (see Josh. vii. 14-18). 
 
 20. The lot fell on the tribe of Benjamin. 
 
 21. The families of Benjamin passed before the Lord; and the 
 family of Matri was taken, then the house of Kish, then Saul. The 
 king was denoted by the sacred lot ; but where was the man ? He 
 could not be found. 
 
 22. They inquired of the Lord, probably by Samuel, or by the high 
 priest, if Saul had come to Mizpeh with the people whom Samuel 
 called. The answer was, that Saul was hidden among the stuff, or 
 baggage. So large a company would have a large amount of baggage, 
 which was, probably, placed around the camp. Saul knew what had 
 been done in private. He saw that the lot was drawing near him. 
 He was amazed that he should be chosen for king. He shrank from 
 the responsibility and the strange prominenoe and honor. 
 
 10 
 
110 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 2£. But his hiding-place was discovered, and he was brought out. 
 His very presence commended him. From his shoulders and upward, 
 he was higher than any of the people. He looked the warrior and 
 the king. 
 
 "And Samuel said to all the people, See yehim whom the Lord hath chosen, 
 that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted 
 and said, God save the king." — 1 Sam. x. 24. 
 
 24. When Samuel pointed him out as the Lord's choice, and bade 
 the people see what manner of man he was, they shouted, and said, 
 " God save th.3 king." They accepted him whom the Lord gave, and 
 prayed for his prosperity. 
 
 So Israel had a king. And Samuel inaugurated the king and the 
 kingdom. He wrote out " the manner of the kingdom," — " the just 
 prerogative of the kingdom, the law, or bill of rights, by which the 
 king's power was limited as well as secured." What he wrote was 
 based on what Moses had written in Deut. xvii. 14-20. We should read 
 that constitution to see what the king was to be. He was to fear the 
 Lord, and keep his law and his statutes. The book which Samuel 
 wrote was laid beside the ark and by the law of God. 
 
 Then Samuel sent the people to their homes ; and the new king 
 went to his home at Gibeah, which was about five miles north of Jeru- 
 salem. With him went many who were loyal, and who accepted 
 Saul as the king whom God had given. There were others who 
 despised Saul, and gave him no presents. "But he held his peace." 
 The people were soon convinced of Saul's prowess, and gladly renewed 
 the kingdom at Gilgal. Saul became king about B.C. 1095. 
 
 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 
 
 1. In all the changes of life, at the beginning of all plans and 
 works, we should remember what great things the Lord hath done 
 for us. 
 
 2. We should let God choose our rulers, and appoint all our ways. 
 
 3. Modesty is becoming; but we should not refuse the place or 
 work to which God calls us. 
 
 4. We should pray for the king and for all who are in authority. 
 
SAMUEL. Ill 
 
 Lesson XIII. —Samuel's Pasting Woeds (Review). Chap. 
 
 xii. 20-25. 
 
 Saul was king of Israel. Samuel was still judge. But Samuel 
 was an old man. At this change in the affairs of Israel, he gave 
 them advice which was both judicial and paternal. He called them 
 to witness to the integrity of his life. Before God they testified to 
 his uprightness; and still they had desired a king. He told them 
 how good the Lord had been to them ; and still they had desired a 
 king. They had what they sought. Ungrateful as they had shown 
 themselves in demanding this change, if they should obey the Lord, 
 all would be well : if they should rebel against the Lord, no king 
 could protect them; the chastisements under which their fathers 
 had suffered would come upon them. In token of the displeasure of 
 the Lord at their demand for a king, at the call of Samuel the Lord 
 sent thunder and rain in the time of wheat-harvest; so that the 
 people feared the Lord and Samuel. The Lord had shown his power, 
 which would be used against them if they should be rebellious. The 
 people begged Samuel to pray for them, that they might not die : for 
 to their other sins they added " this evil, to ask a king." 
 
 " And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not; ye have done all this wicked- 
 ness : yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your 
 heart ; 
 
 "And turn ye not aside : for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot 
 profit nor deliver ; for they are vain. 
 
 " For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake : because it 
 hath pleased the Lord to make you his people." — 1 Sam. xii. 20-22. 
 
 20. Samuel did not deny, but re-affirmed, the guilt of the people. 
 They had indeed done the wickedness which they confessed; but 
 that was past, and would be forgotten, if henceforth they served the 
 Lord heartily. 
 
 21. They were not to forsake the Lord, nor to swerve from their 
 obedience to him. Whatever was preferred to him would be a vain 
 thing. The gods of the heathen were vanity, and could neither 
 prosper, nor deliver from calamity. 
 
 22. The secret of God's care and forbearance toward the children 
 of Israel was, that they were his people. Abraham was his friend ; 
 and they were the heirs of the covenant made with him. He had 
 brought them from the house of bondage, and made them a nation. 
 His own pleasure, his own honor, were concerned in their well-being. 
 They might force him to cast them off ; but if they were obedient, 
 
112 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 even after so much of inconstancy, lie would not forsake them. For 
 his great name's sake, for his own sake, he would be their God (see 
 Deut. vii. 6-9; Ps. xciv. 14; Kom. xi. 1, 2). 
 
 " Moreover, as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing 
 to pray for you ; but I will teach you the good and the right way : 
 
 " Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart; for consider 
 how great things he hath done for you. 
 
 "But, if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your 
 king." —1 Sam. xii. 23-25. 
 
 23. The people had asked Samuel to pray for them. This he would 
 do. It would be sin in him to neglect the people of God, the nation 
 over which he ruled, the needy who asked his prayers. He would 
 pray for them: he would do more, — he would teach them " the good 
 and right way." 
 
 24. All teaching and praying would be in vain, unless the people 
 truly and heartily obeyed God. In speaking of what God had done 
 for them, Samuel may have had immediate reference to the thunder 
 and rain by which God had made himself known, that they 
 might regard him (see Jer. xiv. 22) ; but it is more natural to sup- 
 pose he embraced the whole history of the people, in which the good- 
 ness and greatness of the Lord had been signally displayed. 
 
 25. Samuel knew to whom he was speaking. It is painful to find 
 him coming so often to this warning. After all, they might do wick- 
 edly, and forsake the Lord. Their own conduct justified the fear. 
 But again the result was made known. They should be consumed. 
 Even the king whom they had desired for a protector should be con- 
 sumed with them. Thus did Samuel give them wise teaching : out of 
 his long experience of God's ways and their ways, he instructed them 
 in their duty, and pointed the way to an honorable national life. 
 
 At this point these lessons close. Samuel continued to render 
 important service. Saul was king ; but Samuel was the prophet of 
 the Lord, and really took rank above him. Even the king recognized 
 the authority of the prophet who had anointed him. It was given to 
 Samuel to announce to Saul that the Lord had rejected him from 
 being king, and that the kingdom was to pass into other hands. And 
 Samuel mourned for Saul. He anointed David to be king in Saul's 
 stead, and, having thus made provision for Israel for many and event- 
 ful years to come, he died. The date usually given for his death is 
 B.C. 1058 or 1060. " And all the Israelites were gathered together, 
 and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Kamah." Jo- 
 
SAMUEL. 113 
 
 septus says, "He was a man whom the Hebrews honored in an ex- 
 traordinary degree ; for that lamentation which the people made for 
 him, and this during a long time, manifested his virtue, and the 
 affection which the people bore for him, as also did the solemnity 
 and concern that appeared about his funeral, and about the complete 
 observation of all his funeral-rites. They buried him in his own 
 city, — Ramah, and wept for him a very great number of days, not 
 looking on it as a sorrow for the death of another man, but as that in 
 which they were every one themselves concerned. " 
 
 "Samuel is called emphatically * The Prophet.' . . . He was espe- 
 cially known in his own age as 'Samuel the Seer.'" "An awful 
 reverence grew up around him. . . . He represents the independence 
 of the moral law, of the divine will, as distinct from regal or sacer- 
 dotal enactments. . . . He is the first of the regular succession of 
 prophets. . . . It is in his lifetime, long after he had been ' established 
 as a prophet,' that we hear of the companies of disciples, called, in the 
 Old Testament, ' the sons of the prophets,' by modern writers, ' the 
 schools of the prophets.' All the peculiarities of their education are 
 implied or expressed. ... At the head of this congregation, or 
 'church, as it were, within a church,' Samuel is expressly described as 
 'standing appointed over them.' . . . In these schools, and learning to 
 cultivate the prophetic gifts, were some whom we know for certain, 
 others we may almost conjecture, to have been so trained or influ- 
 enced. One was Saul. . . . Another was David. ... He there be- 
 comes the spiritual father of the Psalmist King. He is also the 
 founder of the first regular institutions of religious instruction, and 
 communities for the purposes of education. The schools of Greece 
 were not yet in existence. From these Jewish institutions were de- 
 veloped, by a natural order, the universities of Christendom. And 
 it may be further added, that with this view the whole life of Samuel 
 is in accordance. He is the prophet, the only prophet, till the time 
 of Isaiah, of whom we know that he was so from his earliest 
 years. It is this continuity of his own life and character that makes 
 him so fit an instrument for conducting his nation through so great 
 a change." — Smith's Bible Dictionary, art. " Samuel." 
 
 The lessons of this quarter cover the period of the judges, and 
 bring us to the first king. 
 
 "This ended the period of the judges, — a period, if carelessly sur- 
 veyed, of alternate slavery, and bloody struggles for independence. 
 Hence may rashly be inferred the total failure of the Mosaic polity in 
 securing the happiness of the people. It has already been shown 
 10* 
 
114 NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 that the views of the legislator were not completely carried into 
 effect, and that the miseries of the people were the natural conse- 
 quences of their deviation from their original statutes. But in fact, 
 out of this period of about four hundred and sixty years, as com- 
 monly reckoned, not one-fourth was passed under foreign oppression ; 
 and many of the servitudes seem to have been local, extending only 
 over certain tribes, not over the whole nation. Above three hundred 
 years of peaceful and uneventful happiness remain, to which history, 
 only faithful in recording the crimes and sufferings of man, bears the 
 favorable testimony of her silence. If the Hebrew nation did not 
 enjoy a high degree of intellectual civilization, yet, as simple hus- 
 bandmen, possessing perfect freedom, equal laws, the regular admin- 
 istration of justice ; cultivating a- soil which yielded bountifully, yet 
 required but light labor ; with a religion strict as regards the morals 
 which are essential to individual, domestic, and national peace, 
 yet indulgent in every kind of social and festive enjoyment, — the 
 descendants of Abraham had reached a higher state of virtue and 
 happiness than any other nation of the period.' ' — Milman' s History 
 of the Jeivs, vol. 1, p. 317. 
 
 PBACTICAIi THOUGHTS. 
 
 1. Ps. cv.-cvi. 
 
 2. Great as the mercy of the Lord is seen to be in the history of 
 Israel, far greater is it as it is declared in Christ our Saviour. 
 
 3. As obedience and confidence secured the ancient mercy, so will 
 they bring us the grace which is in God our Redeemer. 
 
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