Bible Commentaries

After Rest

Joshua 20:3).

"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 unawares might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation." ( Joshua 20:7-9)

Now Joshua proceeds with his valedictory speech. Here and there he records a sentence which belongs to all time. The twenty-first chapter has little or nothing to say except to the people to whom it specially related; but in summing up the twenty-first chapter Joshua says,—

"There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel" ( Joshua 21:45).

A noble testimony this, too, borne by the old man. It is not youth that anticipates, it is age that reviews. Old men never become infidels. We say sometimes that seldom is an old man converted to Christianity. How far that may be true we cannot tell; but did ever an old pilgrim who had once seen heaven opened, turn round and say, in his wrinkled old age, that he was going to the city of Negation, or to the wilderness of Atheism? Old men ought to be heard upon these subjects; they have lived a lifetime; they have fought upon a thousand battlefields; they know all the darkness of the night, all the sharpness of winter, all the heat of summer, and they have a right to be heard upon his question; and their testimony on the side of the Bible is united, distinct, emphatic, and unanswerable.

Another point is found in chapter Joshua 22:5 :—

"But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul." ( Joshua 20:5)

"Return ye, and get you unto your tents, and unto the land of your possession.... But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law" ( Joshua 22:4-5).

It would seem as if some interviews in life could not be satisfactorily closed but with the language of benediction. An ordinary word would be wholly out of place. There is a fitness of things in human communication as in all other affairs and concerns of life. It is fitting, too, that the benediction should be spoken by the old man. Joshua was "old and stricken in years," and he concluded the audience fitly by blessing the children of Israel:—

"So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away; and they went unto their tents" ( Joshua 22:6).

Now the children of Israel go to their tents: They are to be at peace. Ceasing war they are to be students of war. We shall hear no more of controversy; every man having received the blessing is a good Joshua 22:7-9).

"And the children of Israel sent unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Joshua 22:13-14).

"Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice: but that it may be a witness" ( Joshua 22:26-27).

This being settled, a very tender scene occurs. Joshua gathers all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, calls for the children of Israel, and for their heads, and for their Joshua 23:3).

Not only Joshua 23:14).

"Be ye 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;... But cleave unto the Lord your God, as ye have done unto this day" ( Joshua 23:6-8).

What is the call of these verses? It is a call to moral courage. The people were soldiers; when they saw that an altar had been reared to heaven which they did not like, and which they misunderstood, instantly they sped from their tents and challenged the builders to battle. That is the rudest courage; there is nothing in it. Many men can fight who cannot suffer; many are brave in activity who are cowards in waiting. Joshua calls the people now to thought, study, quiet and consistent and continuous obedience—namely, "Cleave unto the Lord." Without this, growth would be impossible. Men cannot grow in the midst of continual or unbroken excitement. We grow when we are at rest; we grow not a little when we are in the shade; we advance when the burden is crushing us, and we are not uttering one complaining word because of its fatal weight. When the history of the land is written as it ought to be written, many a battle which now fills pages and chapters will be dismissed with a contemptuous sentence; and sufferings at home, quiet endurances, Christian manifestations of patience, will be magnified as indicative of the real dauntlessness, the heavenly bravery, the lasting courage. Let every man examine himself herein. To say "No" to a tempting offer is to win a battle: to receive a blow from an enemy and not return it, is to reach the point of coronation in Christ's great kingdom; to hear a rough speech and make a gentle reply is to evince what is meant by growing in grace. So the history rolls on, from battle to battle, from mistake to mistake, from point to point, until at last the moral displaces the material, questions of the soul put into their right place questions of rank; and moral courage—simple, loving, unquestioning obedience—is set at the head of all the virtues; and the quiet, meek, submissive, patient soul is crowned and throned, and stablished amid the hierarchy of heaven. We cannot dazzle the world by our greatness, but we can please God by our goodness; we cannot harness the winds and make them bear our names far and wide, but we can so live, so suffer, so speak, as to constrain the enemy to say,—Verily, this man is a prophet; verily, this man has been with Jesus and learned of him; verily, there is in this supposed weakness a wonderful and enduring strength.

We cannot but be struck by the equality of the divine way as it is marked by the venerable leader. The fifteenth verse is very expressive upon this point:—

"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 have destroyed you from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given you" ( Joshua 23:15).

"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" ( Joshua 23:16).

Joshua having gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their Joshua 24:14).

"—but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" ( Joshua 24:15).

"God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods" ( Joshua 24:16).

Then they review and repeat the solemn history and say that all Joshua has said is true in fact. Then Joshua says unto the people—"What you have now said amounts to little more than mere words; you forget that God is a holy God and a jealous God, and you are speaking from impulse rather than from settled conviction." Then the people reply that Joshua himself is mistaken, and they have really made up their minds once for all to serve the Lord. So be it, then, said Joshua—"Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the Lord, to serve him." The people answered—That is even so; "We are witnesses." Then said Joshua 24:26). Then a very solemn scene occurs:

"And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God" ( Joshua 24:27).

Then the assembly broke up. It broke up never to meet again under the same wise and valiant leadership. All pathetic occasions should be treasured in the memory; the last interview, the last sermon, the last prayer, the last fond lingering look; all these things may be frivolously treated as sentimental, but he who treats them so is a fool in his heart: whatever can subdue the spirit, chasten the sensibilities, and enlarge the charity of the soul should be encouraged as a ministry from God. Now Joshua dies, at the age of one hundred and ten. He was buried in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in Mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash.

"And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua 24:31).

Now the history is done. The bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, were buried in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem. Then men died quickly:

"And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his Joshua 24:33).

Death, death, death! The great man dies, and yet the work goes on. The minister ceases, but the ministry proceeds. The individual sermon closes, but the everlasting gospel never ceases its sweet and redeeming proclamations. Book after book is finished, but literature itself is hardly begun. Amidst all mutation there remains one everlasting quantity: "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever." All the new generations acknowledge it. They come up in great pride and strength, as if they themselves were to outlive God, and behold in a few years their pith is exhausted, their hope dies, and they know themselves to be no better than their fathers. When we are touched by the death of those whom we have known best, and wonder how light can ever shine again upon the circle in which we move, we should give the mind free scope to range over all the noble and marvellous history of the world, so shall we see that how great soever have been the men who have led us, the world could do without them; God knew how to supply their places, and amidst all change and fear and dismay the purpose of Heaven went steadily forward in all the grandeur of its strength and all the tenderness of its beneficence.

In coming thus far in our Bible studies let us pause a moment to consider how many illustrious men with whom we have companied have passed away. Truly the dead are quickly becoming the majority. Adam died, but, though his years were many, how few are the deeds which are recorded of him! He stands in history as the very Gate of Death. "By one man came death." We feel as if we might say—"But for thee, O Adam, all men would now have been alive; no grave would ever have been dug; no farewell would ever have been breathed."—That is an overwhelming reflection. Consider the possibility of Adam himself now entertaining it, or following it out in all its infinite melancholy! Think of him saying—"By my sin I ruined God's fair earth; to me ascribe all iniquity, all shame, all heartbreak; by my presumption and disobedience I did it all: I slew the Son of God; but for me there would have been no Bethlehem, no Gethsemane, no Calvary, no Cross: lay the blame at the right door,—O ages of time, ye burdened and groaning centuries, curse my name in all your woe."—On such thoughts we may not dwell, for the mind reels in moral amazement, and the heart cannot quench the passion of scepticism. Enough is known to make us solemn. Count the graves until arithmetic gives up the reckoning in despair. Abel, Enoch, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, all gone! Just as we had come to know them in the breaking of bread they vanished out of our sight. It was as if rocks had been uprooted, or as if planets had ceased to shine: nay more, for we have not only lost strength and majesty, we have lost guidance, stimulus, friendship, and the subtle ministry of eloquent example. Can history repeat such men? Does our story now lie all down-hill, from steep to steep until we reach the valley of commonplace or the plain of mediocrity? Jesus Christ has taught us how to regard great men, saying "Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." Here we have at once recognition of greatness and hope of greater history. What if we may know more than Adam, see farther than Enoch, embark in greater adventures than Abram, offer greater sacrifices than the priests, and see a deeper law than was ever revealed to Moses? In Christ are hidden all the treasures of Joshua 24:15

There is a point at which all religion becomes voluntary.—There is a sense in which natural religion is not voluntary, although there is a strained sense in which a contention may be set up for its voluntariness.—The whole value of spiritual religion consists in its expressing the supreme desire of the heart.—An appeal is thus made to reason, inasmuch as man is called upon to make a choice. To make a choice means, in other words, to examine, to attach values, weigh one thing against another, and to pronounce on rational grounds for the election of a certain course of conduct.—A beautiful union of words is here found, namely, "choose," and "serve." Here is a beautiful instance of voluntary slavery.—There is a service that is merely of the eye, regulated by selfish considerations and determined by self-indulgence: that service is of no account in the sanctuary: it is a vain oblation, and is rejected by God.—The apostles did not hesitate to describe themselves as "slaves of the Lord Jesus Christ;" the word slave seems to mean more than servant, and it was after that further and deeper meaning, that the apostles strained themselves when they described their service as slavery.—There is a slavery of love.—Love can never rise too early, or toil too severely, or give too lavishly; it lives to give; it lives to gratify others; its joy would be taken away if its service could be limited.—In such a case as is referred to in the text, "service" must not be taken as a merely intellectual or ceremonial relation,—it means downright hard work, genuine obedience, hearty devotion, complete, unsparing, and joyous consecration.—The profession of religion may be an aggravation of immorality.—To profess and not to do is to be guilty of the blackest falsehood.—Great mistakes about the service of God must be cleared away: it is a mistake, for example, to suppose that we may serve God by singing hymns, attending services, and patronising ministers, when in doing all this we only gratify our own desires without exposing ourselves to a single pang or loss. Exercises of this kind must be taken as merely part of the great consecration. The beauty is not the flower, nor is it the fragrance; there must be root-life, hidden sources of nutriment, and direct connection with the sun.—We cannot serve God if we are not living in God, and God is not living in us. To serve God is to bring the spirit into activity at every possible point of life, thinking good, doing good, and. where necessary, suffering for good.—The greatness of this service may be seen in the fact that it is always associated in Christian teaching with concentration.—Jesus Christ said, Ye cannot serve God and mammon, as ye cannot be going east and west at the same time. Here, therefore, the meaning clearly is that divine service means undivided concentration, complete and absolute devotion to the will of God.—In view of this definition (a definition realised only by the Lord Jesus Christ) let every man say how far he is worthy to be called a servant of the living God.

"Handfuls of Purpose"

For All Gleaners

"Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which he spake unto us."— Joshua 24:27

This is more than poetry; this indeed is the greatest of realities.—We are accustomed to regard nature as a silent and unresponsive quantity, but it is never so regarded in holy Scripture.—We cannot tell the relation of nature to our own spiritual life.—There is nothing secret that shall not be revealed; there is nothing spoken in whispers that shall not be repeated in thunders. Who cannot recall the places at which certain vows were spoken, or memorable prayers were poured out of the heart? The world is full of trysting-places, altars of promise, mountains of aspiration, sanctuaries of vow and oath.—Every place at which we have kneeled will be a witness against us. Every time we have handled the Bible we have marked down a witness either in our favour or against us.—A recollection of these circumstances would hallow nature and give all life a new sensitiveness.—"God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham." Had not the children praised Christ, the very stones would have cried out against them, and taken up a song of gladness in his honour.—There are places which we cannot pass without great memories leaping up from them, and making us live our years over again in sudden agony, now of pain, now of rapture.—The footprints we leave behind us may be seen by others, and may be encouragements to them. It is for us to say whether those encouragements shall be found on the upward road, crowned with heaven, or on the downward road, at the end of which there is a burning pit.—A very solemn thought it is that we are never really alone.—Time and space are God's witnesses, and the stones we accounted deaf may be alive to hear every oath and blessing uttered by our lives. It is a fearful thing to live!—What did you say at the child's grave?—What at the wedding altar?—What was the meaning of the gift of a mother's Bible?—Recall the spot on which a great deliverance was wrought, and remember your many tears and vows.—How desolate the condition of a man against whom dumb nature exclaims!—The very stones cry out.—Every harvest rebukes spiritual indolence.—Every star puts to shame the life of darkness.—Every flower protests against moral hideousness.—O my soul, how many have been thy vows, and how few thy fulfilments! Wilt thou always be a liar before God, and always dare the very faces of nature to put thee to shame? I will arise and redeem my vows, and ask him who is merciful evermore to give me courage to own my cowardice, and strength to repair the waste places of my life.