Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 2.djvu/56

52 upon them, and engaged by office to do all the drudgery of the tabernacle. A great deal of wood must be hewed for fuel for God's house, not only to keep the fire burning continually upon the altar, but to boil the flesh of the peace-offerings, &c. And a great deal of water must be drawn for the divers washings which the law prescribed; these and other such servile works, such as washing the vessels, carrying out ashes, sweeping the courts, &c. which otherwise the Levites must have done themselves, these Gibeonites were appointed to do. [4.] They were herein servants to the congregation too; for whatever promotes and helps forward the worship of God, is real service to the commonwealth. It is the interest of every Israelite, that the altar of God be well attended. Hereby also the congregation was excused from much of this servile work, which perhaps would otherwise have been expected from some of them. God had made a law that the Israelites should never make any of their brethren bondmen; if they had slaves, they must be of the heathen that were round about them, Lev. 25. 44. Now, in honour of this law, and of Israel that was honoured by it, God would not have the drudgery, no, not of the tabernacle itself, to be done by Israelites, but by Gibeonites, who were afterward called Nethinim, men given to the Levites as they were to the priests, (Numb. 3. 9.) to minister to them in the service of God. [5.] This may be looked upon as typifying the admission of the Gentiles into the Gospel-Church. Now they were taken in upon their submission to be under-officers, but afterward God promises that he will take of them for priests and Levites, Isa. 66. 21.

2. They submit to this condition, v. 25. Conscious of a fault in framing a lie whereby to deceive the Israelites, and sensible also how narrowly they escaped with their lives, and what a kindness it was to have them spared, they acquiesce in the proposal, Do as it seemeth right unto thee. Better live in servitude, especially such servitude, than not live at all. Those of the very meanest and most despicable condition, are described to be hewers of wood, and drawers of water, Deut. 29. 11. But skin for skin, liberty and labour, and all that a man has, will he give for his life, and no ill bargain. Accordingly the matter was determined, (1.) Joshua delivered them out of the hands of the Israelites that they should not be slain, v. 26. It seems there were those who would have fallen upon them with the sword, if Joshua had not interposed with his authority; but wise generals know when to lock up the sword, as well as when to draw it. (2.) He then delivered them again into the hands of the Israelites to be enslaved, v. 27. They were not to keep possession of their cities, for we find afterward that three of them fell to the lot of Benjamin, and one to that of Judah; nor were they themselves to be at their own disposal, but, as Bishop Patrick thinks, were dispersed into the cities of the priests and Levites, and came up with them in their courses to serve at the altar, out of the profits of which, it is probable, they were maintained. And thus Israel's bondmen became the Lord's freemen, for his service in the meanest office is liberty, and his work is its own wages. And this they got by their early submission. Let us, in like manner, submit to our Lord Jesus, and refer ourselves to him, saying, "We are in thy hand, do unto us as seemeth good and right unto thee; only save our souls, and we shall not repent it:" if he appoints us to bear his cross, and draw in his yoke, and serve at his altar, that shall be afterward neither shame nor grief to us, while the meanest office in God's service will entitle us to a dwelling in the house of the Lord all the days of our life.

CHAP. X. We have in this chapter an account of the conquest of the kings and kingdoms of the southern part of the land of Canaan, as, in the next chapter, of the reduction of the northern parts, which together completed the glorious successes of the wars of Canaan. In this chapter we have an account, I. Of the routing of their forces in the field. In which observe, 1. Their confederacy against the Gibeonites, v. 1..5. 2. The Gibeonites' request to Joshua to assist them, v. 6. 3. Joshua's speedy march under divine encouragement for their relief, v. 7..9. 4. The defeat of the armies of these confederate kings, v. 10, 11. 5. The miraculous prolonging of the day by the standing still of the sun in favour of the conquerors, v. 12..14. II. Of the execution of the kings that escaped out of the battle, v. 15..27. III. Of the taking of the particular cities, and the total destruction of all that were found in them. Makkedah, v. 28. Libnah, v. 29, 30. Lachish, v. 31, 32, and the king of Gezer that attempted its rescue, v. 33. Eglon, v. 34, 35. Hebron, v. 36, 37. Debir, v. 38, 39. And the bringing of all that country into the hands of Israel, v. 40..42. And lastly, the return of the army to their head-quarters.

OW it came to pass, when Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem had heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it; as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her king; and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them; 2. That they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, arid all the men thereof were mighty. 3. Wherefore Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent unto Hoham king of Hebron, and unto Piram king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia king of Lachish, and unto Debir king of Eglon, saying, 4. Come up unto me, and help me, that we may smite Gibeon: for it hath made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel. 5. Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together, and went up, they and all their hosts, and encamped before Gibeon, and made war against it. 6. And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, saying, Slack not thy hand from thy servants; come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us: for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the mountains are gathered together against us.

Joshua and the hosts of Israel had now been a good while in the land of Canaan, and no great matters were effected; they were made masters of Jericho by miracle, of Ai by stratagem, and of Gibeon by surrender, and that was all; hitherto the progress of their victories has not seemed proportionable to the magnificence of their entry and the glory of their beginnings. Those among them that were impatient of delays, it is probable, complained of Joshua's slowness, and asked why they did not immediately penetrate into the heart of the country, before the enemy could rally their forces to make