Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 2.djvu/98

94 therefore very courageous, to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left; 7. That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them: 8. But cleave unto the your God, as ye have done unto this day. 9. For the hath driven out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day. 10. One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you.

As to the date of this edict of Joshua's,

I. No mention at all is made of the place where this general assembly was held; some think it was at Timnath-serah, Joshua's own city, where he lived, and whence, being old, he could not well remove: but it does not appear that he took so much state upon him, therefore it is more probable this meeting was at Shiloh, where the tabernacle of meeting was, and to which place, perhaps, all the males that could, were now come up to worship before the Lord, at one of the three great feasts, which Joshua took the opportunity of, for the delivering of this charge to them.

II. There is only a general mention of the time when this was done. It was long after the Lord had given them rest, but it is not said how long, v. 1. It was, 1. So long as that Israel had time to feel the comforts of their rest and possessions in Canaan, and to enjoy the advantages of that good land. 2. So long as that Joshua had time to observe which way their danger lay of being corrupted, namely, by their intimacy with the Canaanites, that remained, against which he is therefore careful to arm them.

III. The persons to whom Joshua made this speech, to all Israel, even their elders, &c. So it might be read, v. 2. they could not all come within hearing, but he called for all the elders, that is, the privy-counsellors, which in latter times constituted the great Sanhedrim, the heads of the tribes, that is, the noblemen and gentlemen of their respective countries, the judges learned in the laws, that tried criminals and causes, and gave judgment upon them — and, lastly, the officers or sheriffs, who were intrusted with the execution of those judgments. These Joshua called together, and to them he addressed himself, 1. That they might communicate what he said, or at least the sense and substance of it, to those under them in their respective countries, and so this charge might be dispersed through the whole nation. 2. Because if they would be prevailed with to serve God and cleave to him, they, by their influence on the common people, would keep them right. If great men be good men, they will help to make many good men.

IV. Joshua's circumstances when he gave them this charge; he was old and stricken in age, v. 1. probably, it was in the last year of his life, and he lived to be one hundred and ten years old, ch. 24. 29. And he himself takes notice of it, in the first words of his discourse, v. 2. when he began to be old, some years ago, God reminded him of it, ch. 13. 1, Thou art old. But now that he did himself feel so much of the decays of age that he needed not to be told of it, he readily speaks of it himself, I am old and stricken in age. He uses it, 1. As an argument with himself to give them this charge, because being old he could expect to be but a little while with them to advise and instruct them, and therefore (as St. Peter speaks, 2 Pet 1. 13.) as long as he is in this tabernacle, he will take all opportunities to put them in remembrance of their duty, knowing by the increasing infirmities of age, that he must shortly put off this tabernacle, and desiring that after his decease they might continue as good as they were now. When we see death hastening towards us, that should quicken us to do the work of life with all our might. 2. As an argument with them to give heed to what he said. He was old and experienced, and therefore to be the more regarded, for days should speak; he was grown old in their service, and had spent himself for their good, and therefore was to be the more regarded by them. He was old and dying, they would not have him long to preach to them, therefore let them observe what he said now, and lay it up in store for the time to come.

V. The discourse itself, the scope of which is to engage them, if possible, them, and their seed after them, to persevere in the true faith and worship of the God of Israel.

1. He puts them in mind of the great things God had done for them, now in his days, and under his administration, for here he goes no further back. And for the proof of this, he appeals to their own eyes, v. 3, "Ye have seen all that the Lord your God hath done, not what I have done, or what you have done, we were only instruments in God's hand, but what God himself has done by me, and for you." (1.) "Many great and mighty nations (as the rate of nations then went) were driven out from as fine a country as any was at that time upon the fate of the earth, to make room for Israel." "You see what he has done to these nations who were his creatures, the work of his hands, and whom he could have made new creatures, and fit for his service; yet see what destruction he has made of them because of you, v. 3. how he has driven them out from before you, v. 9. as if they were of no account with him, though great and strong in comparison with you." (2.) They were not only driven out, (that they might have been, and yet sent to some other country less rich, to begin a new plantation there, suppose to that wilderness in which Israel had wandered so long, and so they had only exchanged seats with them,) but they were trodden down before them; though they held out against them with the greatest obstinacy that could be, yet they were subdued before them, which made the possessing of their land so much the more glorious to Israel, and so much the more illustrious an instance of the power and goodness of the God of Israel, v. 3. "The Lord your God has not only led you, and fed you, and kept you, but he has fought for you as a man of war," by which title he was known among them when he first brought them out of Egypt, Exod. 15. 3. So clear and cheap were all their victories during the course of this long war, that no man had been able to stand before them, v. 9. that is, to make head against them, so as either to put them in fear, create them any difficulty, or give any check to the progress of their victorious arms. In every battle they carried the day, and in every siege they carried the city; their loss before Ai was upon a particular occasion, was inconsiderable, and only served to show them on what terms they stood with God; but otherwise, never was army crowned with such a constant uninterrupted series of successes, as the armies of Israel were in the wars of Canaan. (3.) They had not only conquered the Canaanites, but were put in full possession of their land, v. 4, "I have divided to you by lot these