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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>J O S H U A</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXIII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this and the following chapter we have two farewell sermons, which
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Joshua preached to the people of Israel a little before his death. Had
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he designed to gratify the curiosity of succeeding ages, he would
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rather have recorded the method of Israel's settlement in their new
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conquests, their husbandry, manufacturers, trade, customs, courts of
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justice, and the constitutions of their infant commonwealth, which one
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would wish to be informed of; but that which he intended in the
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registers of this book was to entail on posterity a sense of religion
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and their duty to God; and therefore, overlooking these things which
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are the usual subjects of a common history, he here transmits to his
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reader the methods he took to persuade Israel to be faithful to their
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covenant with their God, which might have a good influence on the
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generations to come who should read those reasonings, as we may hope
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they had on that generation which then heard them. In this chapter we
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have,
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I. A convention of the states called
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>),
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probably to consult about the common concerns of their land, and to set
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in order that which, after some years' trial, being left to their
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prudence, was found wanting.
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II. Joshua's speech to them as the opening, or perhaps at the
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concluding, of the sessions, to hear which was the principal design of
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their coming together. In it,
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1. Joshua reminds them of what God had done for them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:3,4,9,14">ver. 3, 4, 9, 14</A>),
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and what he was ready to do yet further,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:5,10">ver. 5, 10</A>.
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2. He exhorts them carefully and resolutely to persevere in their duty
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to God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:6,8,11">ver. 6, 8, 11</A>.
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III. He cautions them against all familiarity with their idolatrous
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neighbours,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:7">ver. 7</A>.
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IV. He gives them fair warning of the fatal consequences of it, if they
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should revolt from God and turn to idols,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:12,13,15,16">ver. 12, 13, 15, 16</A>.
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In all this he showed himself zealous for his God, and jealous over
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Israel with a godly jealousy.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Jos23_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos23_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos23_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos23_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos23_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos23_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos23_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos23_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos23_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos23_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Joshua's Charge to Israel.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1427.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>
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1 And it came to pass a long time after that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> had given
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rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua
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waxed old <I>and</I> stricken in age.
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2 And Joshua called for all Israel, <I>and</I> for their elders, and
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for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers,
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and said unto them, I am old <I>and</I> stricken in age:
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3 And ye have seen all that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God hath done unto
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all these nations because of you; for the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God <I>is</I> he
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that hath fought for you.
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4 Behold, I have divided unto you by lot these nations that
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remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from Jordan, with
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all the nations that I have cut off, even unto the great sea
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westward.
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5 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God, he shall expel them from before you,
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and drive them from out of your sight; and ye shall possess their
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land, as the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God hath promised unto you.
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6 Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is
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written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside
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therefrom <I>to</I> the right hand or <I>to</I> the left;
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7 That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among
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you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to
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swear <I>by them,</I> neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto
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them:
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8 But cleave unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God, as ye have done unto this
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day.
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9 For the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath driven out from before you great nations
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and strong: but <I>as for</I> you, no man hath been able to stand
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before you unto this day.
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10 One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your
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God, he <I>it is</I> that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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As to the date of this edict of Joshua,</P>
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<P>
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I. No mention at all is made of the place where this general assembly
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was held; some think it was at Timnath-serah, Joshua's own city, where
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he lived, and whence, being old, he could not well remove. But it does
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not appear that he took so much state upon him; therefore it is more
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probable this meeting was at Shiloh, where the tabernacle of meeting
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was, and to which place, perhaps, all the males that could had now come
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up to worship before the Lord, at one of the three great feasts, which
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Joshua took the opportunity of, for the delivering of this charge to
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them.</P>
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<P>
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II. There is only a general mention of the time when this was done. It
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was <I>long after the Lord had given them rest,</I> but it is not said
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how long,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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It was,
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1. So long as that Israel had time to feel the comforts of their rest
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and possessions in Canaan, and to enjoy the advantages of that good
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land.
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2. So long as that Joshua had time to observe which ways their danger
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lay of being corrupted, namely, by their intimacy with the Canaanites
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that remained, against which he is therefore careful to arm them.</P>
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<P>
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III. The persons to whom Joshua made this speech: <I>To all Israel,
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even their elders, &c.</I> So it might be read,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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They could not all come within hearing, but he called for all the
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elders, that is, the privy-counsellors, which in later times
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constituted the great Sanhedrim, the heads of the tribes, that is, the
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noblemen and gentlemen of their respective countries, the judges
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learned in the laws, that tried criminals and causes, and gave judgment
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upon them, and, <I>lastly,</I> the officers or sheriffs, who were
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entrusted with the execution of those judgments. These Joshua called
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together, and to them he addressed himself,
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1. That they might communicate what he said, or at least the sense and
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substance of it, to those under them in their respective countries, and
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so this charge might be dispersed through the whole nation.
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2. Because, if they would be prevailed upon to serve God and cleave to
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him, they, by their influence on the common people, would keep them
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faithful. If great men be good men, they will help to make many
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good.</P>
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<P>
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IV. Joshua's circumstances when he gave them this charge: He <I>was old
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and stricken in age</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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probably it was in the last year of his life, and he lived to be 110
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years old,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+24:29"><I>ch.</I> xxiv. 29</A>.
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And he himself takes notice of it, in the first words of his discourse,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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When he began to be old, some years ago, God reminded him of it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+13:1"><I>ch.</I> xiii. 1</A>):
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<I>Thou art old.</I> But now he did himself feel so much of the decays
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of age that he needed not to be told of it, he readily speaks of it
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himself: <I>I am old and stricken in age.</I> He uses it,
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1. As an argument with himself to give them this charge, because being
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old he could expect to be but a little while with them, to advise and
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instruct them, and therefore (as Peter speaks,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Pe+1:13">2 Pet. i. 13</A>)
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<I>as long as he is in this tabernacle</I> he will take all
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opportunities to <I>put them in remembrance</I> of their duty, knowing
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by the increasing infirmities of age that he must shortly put off this
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tabernacle, and desiring that after his decease they might continue as
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good as they were now. When we see death hastening towards us, this
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should quicken us to do the work of life with all our might.
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2. As an argument with them to give heed to what he said. He was old
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and experienced, and therefore to be the more regarded, for days should
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speak; he had grown old in their service, and had spent himself for
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their good, and therefore was to be the more regarded by them. He was
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old and dying; they would not have him long to preach to them;
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therefore let them observe what he said now, and lay it up in store for
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the time to come.</P>
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<P>
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V. The discourse itself, the scope of which is to engage them if
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possible, them and their seed after them, to persevere in the true
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faith and worship of the God of Israel.</P>
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<P>
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1. He puts them in mind of the great things God had done for them, now
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in his days, and under his administration, for here he goes no further
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back. And for the proof of this he appeals to their own eyes
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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"<I>You have seen all that the Lord your God has done;</I> not what I
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have done, or what you have done (we were only instruments in God's
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hand), but what God himself has done by me and for you."
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(1.) Many great and mighty nations (as the rate of nations then went)
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were driven out from as fine a country as any was at that time upon the
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face of the earth, to make room for Israel. "You see <I>what he has
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done to these nations,</I> who were his creatures, the work of his
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hands, and whom he could have made new creatures and fit for his
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service; yet see what destruction he has made of them <I>because of
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you</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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how he has <I>driven them out from before you</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
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as if they were of no account with him, though great and strong in
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comparison with you."
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(2.) They were not only driven out (this they might have been, and yet
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sent to some other country less rich to begin a new plantation there,
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suppose to that wilderness in which Israel had wandered so long, and so
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they would only have exchanged seats with them), but they were trodden
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down before them; though they held out against them with the greatest
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obstinacy that could be, yet they were subdued before them, which made
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the possessing of their land so much the more glorious to Israel and so
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much the more illustrious an instance of the power and goodness of the
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God of Israel
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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"<I>The Lord your God</I> has not only led you, and fed you, and kept
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you, but he has fought for you as a man of war," by which title he was
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known among them when he first brought them out of Egypt,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+15:3">Exod. xv. 3</A>.
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So clear and cheap were all their victories, during the course of this
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long war, that <I>no man had been able to stand before them</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
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that is, to make head against them, so as to put them in fear, create
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them any difficulty, or give any check to the progress of their
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victorious arms. In every battle they carried the day, and in every
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siege they carried the city; their loss before Ai was upon a particular
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occasion, was inconsiderable, and only served to show them on what
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terms they stood with God; but, otherwise, never was army crowned with
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such a constant uninterrupted series of successes as the armies of
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Israel were in the wars of Canaan.
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(3.) They had not only conquered the Canaanites, but were put in full
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possession of their land
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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"<I>I have divided to you by lot these nations,</I> both those which
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are cut off and those which remain, not only that you may spoil and
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plunder them, and live at discretion in their country for a time, but
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to be a sure and lasting inheritance for your tribes. You have it not
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only under your feet, but in your hands."</P>
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<P>
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2. He assures them of God's readiness to carry on and complete this
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glorious work in due time. It is true some of the Canaanites did yet
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remain, and in some places were strong and daring, but this should be
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no disappointment to their expectations; when Israel was so multiplied
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as to be able to replenish this land God would expel the Canaanites to
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the last man, provided Israel would pursue their advantages and carry
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on the war against them with vigour
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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"<I>The Lord your God will drive them from out of your sight,</I> so
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that there shall not be a Canaanite to be seen in the land; and even
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that part of the country which is yet in their hands you shall
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possess." If it were objected that the men of war of the several tribes
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being dispersed to their respective countries, and the army disbanded,
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it would be difficult to get them together when there was occasion to
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renew the war upon the remainder of the Canaanites, in answer to this
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he tells them what little need they had to be in care about the numbers
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of their forces
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
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<I>One man of you shall chase a thousand,</I> as Jonathan did,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+14:13">1 Sam. xiv. 13</A>.
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"Each tribe may venture for itself, and for the recovery of its own
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lot, without fearing disadvantage by the disproportion of numbers; for
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the Lord your God, whose all power is, both to inspirit and to
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dispirit, and who has all the creatures at his beck, <I>he it is that
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fighteth for you;</I> and how many do you reckon him for?"</P>
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<P>
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3. He hereupon most earnestly charges them to adhere to their duty, to
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go on and persevere in the good ways of the Lord wherein they had so
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well set out. He exhorts them,</P>
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<P>
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(1.) To be very courageous
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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"God fighteth for you against your enemies, do you therefore <I>behave
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yourselves valiantly</I> for him. Keep and do with a firm resolution
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<I>all that is written in the book of the law.</I>" He presses upon
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them no more than what they were already bound to. "Keep with care, do
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with diligence, and eye what is written with sincerity."</P>
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<P>
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(2.) To be very cautious: "Take heed of missing it, either on the right
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hand or on the left, for there are errors and extremes on both hands.
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Take heed of running either into a profane neglect of any of God's
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institutions or into a superstitious addition of any of your own
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inventions." They must especially take heed of all approaches towards
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idolatry, the sin to which they were first inclined and would be most
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tempted,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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[1.] They must not acquaint themselves with idolaters, nor come among
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them to visit them or be present at any of their feasts or
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entertainments, for they could not contract any intimacy nor keep up
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any conversation with them, without danger of infection.
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[2.] They must not show the least respect to any idol, nor <I>make
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mention of the name of their gods,</I> but endeavour to bury the
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remembrance of them in perpetual oblivion, that the worship of them may
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never be revived. "Let the very name of them be forgotten. Look upon
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idols as filthy detestable things, not to be named without the utmost
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loathing and detestation." The Jews would not suffer their children to
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name swine's flesh, because it was forbidden, lest the name of it
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should occasion their desiring it; but, if they had occasion to speak
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of it, they must call it <I>that strange thing.</I> It is a pity that
|
|
among Christians the names of the heathen gods are so commonly used,
|
|
and made so familiar as they are, especially in plays and poems: let
|
|
those names which have been set up in rivalship with God be for ever
|
|
loathed and lost.
|
|
|
|
[3.] They must not countenance others in showing respect to them. They
|
|
must not only not swear by them themselves, but they must not cause
|
|
others to swear by them, which supposes that they must not make any
|
|
covenants with idolaters, because they, in the confirming of their
|
|
covenants, would swear by their idols; never let Israelites admit such
|
|
an oath.
|
|
|
|
[4.] They must take heed of these occasions of idolatry, lest by
|
|
degrees they should arrive at the highest step of it, which was serving
|
|
false gods, and bowing down to them, against the letter of the second
|
|
commandment.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) To be very constant
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Cleave unto the Lord your God,</I> that is, "delight in him, depend
|
|
upon him, devote yourselves to his glory, and continue to do so to the
|
|
end, <I>as you have done unto this day,</I> ever since you came to
|
|
Canaan;" for, being willing to make the best of them, he looks not so
|
|
far back as the iniquity of Peor. There might be many things amiss
|
|
among them, but they had not forsaken the Lord their God, and it is in
|
|
order to insinuate his exhortation to perseverance with the more
|
|
pleasing power that he praises them. "Go on and prosper, for the Lord
|
|
is with you while you are with him." Those that command should commend;
|
|
the way to make people better is to make the best of them. "You have
|
|
cleaved to the Lord unto this day, therefore go on to do so, else you
|
|
lose the praise and recompence of what you have wrought. Your
|
|
righteousness will not be mentioned unto you if you turn from it."</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Jos23_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jos23_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jos23_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jos23_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jos23_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jos23_16"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>11 Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God.
|
|
12 Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the
|
|
remnant of these nations, <I>even</I> these that remain among you, and
|
|
shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to
|
|
you:
|
|
13 Know for a certainty that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God will no more
|
|
drive out <I>any of</I> 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 L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God hath given you.
|
|
14 And, behold, this day I <I>am</I> 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 L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your
|
|
God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, <I>and</I>
|
|
not one thing hath failed thereof.
|
|
15 Therefore it shall come to pass, <I>that</I> as all good things
|
|
are come upon you, which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God promised you; so shall
|
|
the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed
|
|
you from off this good land which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God hath given
|
|
you.
|
|
16 When ye have transgressed the covenant of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God,
|
|
which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and
|
|
bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> be
|
|
kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the
|
|
good land which he hath given unto you.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here,
|
|
|
|
I. Joshua directs them what to do, that they might persevere in
|
|
religion,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
Would we cleave to the Lord, and not forsake him,
|
|
|
|
1. We must always stand upon our guard, for many a precious soul is
|
|
lost and ruined through carelessness: "Take heed therefore, <I>take
|
|
good heed to yourselves,</I> to your <I>souls</I> (so the word is),
|
|
that the inward man be kept clean from the pollutions of sin, and
|
|
closely employed in the service of God." God has given us precious
|
|
souls with this charge, "Take good heed to them, keep them with all
|
|
diligence, above all keepings."
|
|
|
|
2. What we do in religion we must do from a principle of love, not by
|
|
constraint or from a slavish fear of God, but of choice and with
|
|
delight. "<I>Lord the Lord your God,</I> and you will not leave
|
|
him."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He urges God's fidelity to them as an argument why they should be
|
|
faithful to him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>I am going the way of all the earth,</I> I am old and dying." To
|
|
die is to go a journey, a journey to our long home; it is the way of
|
|
all the earth, the way that all mankind must go, sooner or later.
|
|
Joshua himself, though so great and good a man, and one that could so
|
|
ill be spared, cannot be exempted from this common lot. He takes notice
|
|
of it here that they might look upon these as his dying words, and
|
|
regard them accordingly. Or thus: "<I>I am dying,</I> and leaving you.
|
|
<I>Me you have not always;</I> but if you cleave to the Lord he will
|
|
never leave you." Or thus, "Now that I am near my end it is proper to
|
|
look back upon the years that are past; and, in the review, I find, and
|
|
you <I>yourselves know it in all your hearts and in all your souls,</I>
|
|
by a full conviction on the clearest evidence, and the thing has made
|
|
an impression upon you"--(that knowledge does us good which is seated,
|
|
not in the head only, but in the heart and soul, and with which we are
|
|
duly affected)--"you know that <I>not one thing hath failed of all the
|
|
good things which the Lord spoke concerning you</I>" (and he spoke a
|
|
great many); see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+21:45"><I>ch.</I> xxi. 45</A>.
|
|
|
|
God had promised them victory, rest, plenty, his tabernacle among them,
|
|
&c., and <I>not one thing had failed</I> of all he had promised. "Now,"
|
|
said he, "has God been thus true to you? Be not you false to him." It
|
|
is the apostle's argument for perseverance
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+10:23">Heb. x. 23</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>He is faithful that has promised.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. He gives them fair warning what would be the fatal consequences of
|
|
apostasy
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:12,13,15,16"><I>v.</I> 12, 13, 15, 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
"If you go back, know for a certainty it will be your ruin."
|
|
Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. How he describes the apostasy which he warns them against. The steps
|
|
of it would be
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>)
|
|
|
|
growing intimate with idolaters, who would craftily wheedle them, and
|
|
insinuate themselves into their acquaintance, now that they had become
|
|
lords of the country, to serve their own ends. The next step would be
|
|
intermarrying with them, drawn to it by their artifices, who would be
|
|
glad to bestow their children upon these wealthy Israelites. And the
|
|
consequence of that would be
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>)
|
|
|
|
<I>serving other gods</I> (which were pretended to be the ancient
|
|
deities of the country) and bowing down to them. Thus the way of sin is
|
|
down-hill, and those who have fellowship with sinners cannot avoid
|
|
having fellowship with sin. This he represents,
|
|
|
|
(1.) As a base and shameful desertion; "it is going back from what you
|
|
have so well begun,"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) As a most perfidious breach of promise
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
"It is a transgression of <I>the covenant of the Lord your God, which
|
|
he commanded you,</I> and which you yourselves set your hand to." Other
|
|
sins were transgressions of the law God commanded them, but this was a
|
|
transgression of the covenant he commanded them, and amounted to a
|
|
breach of the relation between God and them and a forfeiture of all the
|
|
benefits of the covenant.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. How he describes the destruction which he warns them of. He tells
|
|
them,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That these remainders of the Canaanites, if they should harbour
|
|
them, and indulge them, and join in affinity with them, would be snares
|
|
and traps to them, both to draw them to sin (not only to idolatry, but
|
|
to all immoralities, which would be the ruin, not only of their virtue,
|
|
but of their wisdom and sense, their spirit and honour), and also to
|
|
draw them into foolish bargains, unprofitable projects, and all manner
|
|
of inconveniences; and having thus by underhand practices decoyed them
|
|
into one mischief or other, so as to gain advantages against them, they
|
|
would then act more openly, and be <I>scourges in their sides</I> and
|
|
<I>thorns in their eyes,</I> would perhaps kill or drive away their
|
|
cattle, burn or steal their corn, alarm or plunder their houses, and
|
|
would be all ways possible be vexatious to them; for, whatever
|
|
pretences of friendship they might make, a Canaanite, unless proselyted
|
|
to the faith and worship of the true God, would in every age hate the
|
|
very name and sight of an Israelite. See how the punishment would be
|
|
made to answer the sin, nay, how the sin itself would be the
|
|
punishment.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That the anger of the Lord would be kindled against them. Their
|
|
making leagues with the Canaanites would not only give those idolaters
|
|
the opportunity of doing them a mischief, and be the fostering of
|
|
snakes in their bosoms, but it would likewise provoke God to become
|
|
their enemy, and would kindle the fire of his displeasure against them.
|
|
|
|
(3.) That all the threatenings of the word would be fulfilled, as the
|
|
promise had been, for the God of eternal truth is faithful to both
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>As all good things have come upon you</I> according to the promise,
|
|
so long as you have kept close to God, so all evil things will come
|
|
upon you according to the threatening, if you forsake him." Moses had
|
|
<I>set before them good and evil;</I> they had experienced the good,
|
|
and were now in the enjoyment of it, and the evil would as certainly
|
|
come if they were disobedient. As God's promises are not a fool's
|
|
paradise, so his threatenings are not bugbears.
|
|
|
|
(4.) That it would end in the utter ruin of their church and nation, as
|
|
Moses had foretold. This is three times mentioned here. Your enemies
|
|
will vex you <I>until you perish from off this good land,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
Again, "God will plague you <I>until he have destroyed you from off
|
|
this good land,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
Heaven and earth will concur to root you out, so that
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>)
|
|
|
|
<I>you shall perish from off the good land.</I>" It will aggravate
|
|
their perdition that the land from which they shall perish is a good
|
|
land, and a land which God himself had given them, and which therefore
|
|
he would have secured to them if they by their wickedness had not
|
|
thrown themselves out of it. Thus the goodness of the heavenly Canaan,
|
|
and the free and sure grant God has made of it, will aggravate the
|
|
misery of those that shall for ever be shut out and perish from it.
|
|
Nothing will make them see how wretched they are so much as to see how
|
|
happy they might have been. Joshua thus sets before them the fatal
|
|
consequences of their apostasy, that, <I>knowing the terror of the
|
|
Lord,</I> they might be persuaded <I>with purpose of heart to cleave to
|
|
him.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
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