130 lines
9.5 KiB
XML
130 lines
9.5 KiB
XML
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<div2 id="Jos.i" n="i" next="Jos.ii" prev="Jos" progress="0.33%" title="Introduction">
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<h2 id="Jos.i-p0.1">Joshua</h2>
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<hr/>
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<pb id="Jos.i-Page_1" n="1"/>
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<div class="Center" id="Jos.i-p0.3">
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<p id="Jos.i-p1"><b>AN</b></p>
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<h3 id="Jos.i-p1.1">EXPOSITION,</h3>
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<h4 id="Jos.i-p1.2">W I T H P R A C T I C A L O B S E
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R V A T I O N S,</h4>
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<h5 id="Jos.i-p1.3">OF THE BOOK OF</h5>
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<h2 id="Jos.i-p1.4">J O S H U A.</h2>
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<hr style="width:2in"/>
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</div>
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<p class="indent" id="Jos.i-p2">I. We have now before us the history of the
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Jewish nation in this book and those that follow it to the end of
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the book of Esther. These books, to the end of the books of the
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Kings, the Jewish writers call <i>the first book of the
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prophets,</i> to bring them within the distribution of the books of
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the <i>Old Testament,</i> into the Law, the Prophets, and the
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Chetubim, or Hagiographa, <scripRef id="Jos.i-p2.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.24.44" parsed="|Luke|24|44|0|0" passage="Lu 24:44">Luke xxiv.
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44</scripRef>. The rest they make part of the Hagiographa. For,
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though history is their subject, it is justly supposed that
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prophets were their penmen. To those books that are purely and
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properly <i>prophetical</i> the name of the prophet is prefixed,
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because the credibility of the prophecies depended much upon the
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character of the prophets; but these historical books, it is
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probable, were collections of the authentic records of the nation,
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which some of the prophets (and the Jewish church was for many ages
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more or less continually blessed with such) were divinely directed
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and helped to put together for the service of the church to the end
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of the world; as their other officers, so their historiographers,
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had their authority <i>from heaven.</i>—It should seem that though
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the substance of the several histories was written when the events
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were fresh in memory, and written under a divine direction, yet,
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under the same direction, they were put into the form in which we
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now have them by some other hand, long afterwards, probably all by
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the same hand, or about the same time. The grounds of the
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conjecture are, 1. Because former writings are so often referred
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to, as the Book of Jasher (<scripRef id="Jos.i-p2.2" osisRef="Bible:Josh.10.13 Bible:2Sam.1.18" parsed="|Josh|10|13|0|0;|2Sam|1|18|0|0" passage="Jos 10:13,2Sa 1:18">Josh. x. 13, and 2 Sam. i. 18</scripRef>), the
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Chronicles of the Kings of Israel and Judah, and the books of Gad,
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Nathan, and Iddo. 2. Because the days when the things were done are
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spoken of sometimes as days long since passed; as <scripRef id="Jos.i-p2.3" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.9.9" parsed="|1Sam|9|9|0|0" passage="1Sa 9:9">1 Sam. ix. 9</scripRef>, <i>He that is now called
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a prophet was formerly called a seer.</i> And, 3. Because we so
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often read of things remaining <i>unto this day;</i> as stones
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(<scripRef id="Jos.i-p2.4" osisRef="Bible:Josh.4.9 Bible:Josh.7.26 Bible:Josh.8.29 Bible:Josh.10.27 Bible:1Sam.6.18" parsed="|Josh|4|9|0|0;|Josh|7|26|0|0;|Josh|8|29|0|0;|Josh|10|27|0|0;|1Sam|6|18|0|0" passage="Jos 4:9,7:26,8:29,10:27,1Sa 6:18">Josh. iv. 9;
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vii. 26; viii. 29; x. 27; 1 Sam. vi. 18</scripRef>), names of
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places (<scripRef id="Jos.i-p2.5" osisRef="Bible:Josh.5.9 Bible:Josh.7.26 Bible:Judg.1.26 Bible:Judg.15.19 Bible:Judg.18.12 Bible:2Kgs.14.7" parsed="|Josh|5|9|0|0;|Josh|7|26|0|0;|Judg|1|26|0|0;|Judg|15|19|0|0;|Judg|18|12|0|0;|2Kgs|14|7|0|0" passage="Jos 5:9,7:26,Jdg 1:26,15:19,18:12,2Ki 14:7">Josh. v. 9; vii. 26;
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Judg. i. 26; xv. 19; xviii. 12; 2 Kings xiv. 7</scripRef>), rights
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and possessions (<scripRef id="Jos.i-p2.6" osisRef="Bible:Judg.1.21 Bible:1Sam.27.6" parsed="|Judg|1|21|0|0;|1Sam|27|6|0|0" passage="Jdg 1:21,1Sa 27:6">Judg. i. 21;
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1 Sam. xxvii. 6</scripRef>), customs and usages (<scripRef id="Jos.i-p2.7" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.5.5 Bible:2Kgs.17.41" parsed="|1Sam|5|5|0|0;|2Kgs|17|41|0|0" passage="1Sa 5:5,2Ki 17:41">1 Sam. v. 5; 2 Kings xvii. 41</scripRef>),
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which clauses have been since added to the history by the inspired
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collectors for the confirmation and illustration of it to those of
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their own age. And, if one may offer a mere conjecture, it is not
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unlikely that the historical books, to the end of the Kings, were
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put together by Jeremiah the prophet, a little before the
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captivity; for it is said of Ziklag (<scripRef id="Jos.i-p2.8" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.27.6" parsed="|1Sam|27|6|0|0" passage="1Sa 27:6">1
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Sam. xxvii. 6</scripRef>) that it pertains to the <i>kings of
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Judah</i> (which style began after Solomon and ended in the
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captivity) <i>unto this day.</i> And it is still more probable that
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those which follow were put together by Ezra the scribe, some time
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after the captivity. However, though we are in the dark concerning
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their authors, we are in no doubt concerning their authority; they
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were a part of the oracles of God, which were committed to the
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Jews, and were so received and referred to by our Saviour and the
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apostles.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Jos.i-p3">In the five books of Moses we had a very
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full account of the rise, advance, and constitution, of the
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Old-Testament church, the family out of which it was raised, the
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promise, that great charter by which it was incorporated, the
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miracles by which it was built up, and the laws and ordinances by
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which it was to be governed, from which one would conceive and
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expectation of its character and state very different from what we
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find in this history. A nation that had statutes and judgments so
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righteous, one would think, should have been very holy; and a
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nation what had promises so rich should have been very happy. But,
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alas! a great part of the history is a melancholy representation of
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their sins and miseries; for <i>the law made nothing perfect,</i>
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but this was to be done by the <i>bringing in of the better
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hope.</i> And yet, if we compare the history of the Christian
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church with its constitution, we shall find the same cause for
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wonder, so many have been its errors and corruptions; for neither
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does the <i>gospel make any thing perfect</i> in this world, but
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leaves us still in expectation of a <i>better hope</i> in the
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future state.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Jos.i-p4">II. We have next before us the <i>book of
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Joshua,</i> so called, perhaps, not because it was written
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<i>by</i> him, for that is uncertain. Dr. Lightfoot thinks that
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Phinehas wrote it. Bishop Patrick is clear that Joshua wrote it
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himself. However that be, it is written <i>concerning</i> him, and,
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if any other wrote it, it was collected out of his journals or
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memoirs. It contains the history of Israel under the command and
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government of Joshua, how he presided as general of their armies,
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1. In their entrance into Canaan, <scripRef id="Jos.i-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Josh.1.1-Josh.5.15" parsed="|Josh|1|1|5|15" passage="Jos 1:1-5:15"><i>ch.</i> i.-v.</scripRef> 2. In their conquest of
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Canaan, <scripRef id="Jos.i-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Josh.6.1-Josh.12.24" parsed="|Josh|6|1|12|24" passage="Jos 6:1-12:24"><i>ch.</i>
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vi.-xii.</scripRef> 3. In the distribution of the land of Canaan
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among the tribes of Israel, <scripRef id="Jos.i-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Josh.13.1-Josh.21.45" parsed="|Josh|13|1|21|45" passage="Jos 13:1-21:45"><i>ch.</i> xiii.-xxi.</scripRef> 4. In the
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settlement and establishment of religion among them, <scripRef id="Jos.i-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Josh.22.1-Josh.24.33" parsed="|Josh|22|1|24|33" passage="Jos 22:1-24:33"><i>ch.</i> xxii.-xxiv.</scripRef> In all
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which he was a great example of wisdom, courage, fidelity, and
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piety, to all that are in places of public trust. But this is not
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all the use that is to be made of this history. We may see in it,
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1. <i>Much of God</i> and <i>his providence</i>—his power in the
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kingdom of nature, his justice in punishing the Canaanites when the
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<i>measure of their iniquity was full,</i> his faithfulness to his
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covenant with the patriarchs, and his kindness to his people
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Israel, notwithstanding their provocations. We may see him as the
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Lord of Hosts <i>determining the issues of war,</i> and as the
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director of the lot, <i>determining the bounds of men's
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habitations.</i> 2. <i>Much of Christ</i> and <i>his grace.</i>
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Though Joshua is not expressly mentioned in the New Testament as a
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type of Christ, yet all agree that he was a very eminent one. He
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bore our Saviour's name, as did also another type of him, Joshua
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the high priest, <scripRef id="Jos.i-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Zech.6.11-Zech.6.12" parsed="|Zech|6|11|6|12" passage="Zec 6:11,12">Zech. vi. 11,
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12</scripRef>. The LXX., giving the name of Joshua a Greek
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termination, call him all along <b><i>Iesous,</i></b> <i>Jesus,</i>
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and so he is called <scripRef id="Jos.i-p4.6" osisRef="Bible:Acts.7.45 Bible:Heb.4.8" parsed="|Acts|7|45|0|0;|Heb|4|8|0|0" passage="Ac 7:45,Heb 4:8">Acts vii.
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45, and Heb. iv. 8</scripRef>. Justin Martyr, one of the first
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writers of the Christian church (<i>Dialog. cum Tryph.</i> p. mihi
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300), makes that promise in <scripRef id="Jos.i-p4.7" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.20" parsed="|Exod|23|20|0|0" passage="Ex 23:20">Exod.
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xxiii. 20</scripRef>, <i>My angel shall bring thee into the place I
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have prepared,</i> to point at Joshua; and these words, <i>My name
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is in him,</i> to refer to this, that his names should be the same
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with that of the Messiah. It signifies, <i>He shall save.</i>
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Joshua saves God's people from the Canaanites; our Lord Jesus saves
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them <i>from their sins.</i> Christ, as Joshua, is the <i>captain
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of our salvation,</i> a <i>leader and commander of the people,</i>
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to tread Satan under their feet, to put them in possession of the
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heavenly Canaan, and to <i>give them rest,</i> which (it is said,
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<scripRef id="Jos.i-p4.8" osisRef="Bible:Heb.4.8" parsed="|Heb|4|8|0|0" passage="Heb 4:8">Heb. iv. 8</scripRef>) Joshua did
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not.</p>
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</div2>
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