THE CITIES OF REFUGE. [1635-1451 B.C. "Now curse, or die!"-The gathering roar The prophet was in prayer;-he rose, He saw their camp, like endless clouds, A sudden spirit on him came, A sudden fire was in his eye; His tongue was touch'd with hallow'd flame, "How shall I curse whom God hath bless'd? "With whom he dwells, with whom shall dwell!" Then, be thou blest, O Israel!" 29. CITIES OF REFUGE. DEATH OF MOSES. Numbers xxxii.-Deuteronomy xxxiv. The tribes of Reuben and Gad had a very great multitude of cattle; and when they saw that the land of Jazer and Gilead, which had been taken from Sihon and Og, were good for pasturage, they asked Moses to give them those lands for their possession. Moses told them that Canaan must be first conquered; these tribes then proposed to leave their wives and children in possession of the country, while they went fully armed before their brethren, to conquer Canaan; and then they would return and possess their land. The Lord appointed forty-eight cities to be given to the Levites. Six of them were to be cities of refuge for those who had slain others by accident. Three of the cities, Bezer, Ramoth, and Golan, were on the east of Jordan, and the other PERIOD III.] THE DEATH OF MOSES. three, Kadesh-Naphtali, Shechem, and Hebron were on the west of Jordan. The man-slayer who had slain another unawares, might flee to a city of refuge, and remain there safe from the avenger of blood, until the death of the High Priest, when he might go abroad without fear of punishment. God made it known that he had appointed Joshua to succeed Moses. Moses wished to go into Canaan, and prayed, saying, "I pray thee let me go over and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain and Lebanon.” But the Lord would not permit him to go over because he had smitten the rock at Meribah, when God had commanded him to speak to it only. Before Moses died he repeated the Law to the Israelites; exhorted them to obedience; forbade idolatry; and prophesied of Christ. He foretold that Israel would worship idols after they entered Canaan; that they would be taken as slaves into a strange country; and after that be scattered over all the world. Moses ascended Mount Nebo, and from thence he beheld the promised land. He again exhorted the Israelites to obedience. He blessed them and then died. His age was onehundred-and-twenty years. He was buried in a valley of Moab. The people mourned thirty days. And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses whom the Lord knew face to face, in all the signs and the wonders, which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel. NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS. leave-God had promised protection to their wives, children, property, and lands, at those seasons when all the men of Israel were to appear before him in the place which he should choose; and as it was a duty on these men to assist their brethren when they crossed over Jordan, they relied on the same promise that their inheritance would be preserved free from the invasion of their enemies. Exodus xxxiv. 23, 24. forty-eight-these cities were chosen out of all the tribes of Israel; the Levites were consequently dispersed throughout the entire population, thus fulfilling a great object of their appointment to the priesthood-that of being the religious instructors and judges of the people. Lesson 32, forty-eight.' refuge this protection extended only to those who had caused death by NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS. [1635-1451 B.c. accident; if a murderer escaped to one of these cities he was forbidden protection, the command being, "If a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile, thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die." avenger-the person to whom the right belonged of avenging the blood of the deceased by slaying the offender; he was generally the nearest kinsman of the person slain. If, however, the man-slayer escaped to one of the cities of refuge, the avenger dared not harm him until the case had been investigated; when, if innocent, he was received within the city; but if guilty, he was delivered up to the avenger. death--Jewish writers inform us that to make the homicides in the cities of refuge contented with their lot lest, growing dissatisfied, they should wish for the death of the high priest, the mother of the existing Pontiff, or other friend interested in his prosperity, usually supplied them with many of the necessaries and even with the comforts of life. go abroad-the avenger' dared not pursue him. When a homicide died before the High Priest, his remains were given to his relatives to be buried among his own people. repeated the chief portions of the ceremonial and civil laws, as well as the moral laws. Lesson 22, Ten Commandments; Lesson 24, laws,' 'burnt offering,' 'code,' ' ordinances.' foretold-Lesson 35, 'served.' taken-Lessons 108, 118, 120. prophecy has been literally fulfilled. This buried-the Lord buried him over against Beth-peor; but this was not made known to the Israelites, the probable reason being lest future generations should attach the superstitious idea of peculiar sanctity to the spot. face to face-apparently as closely and familiarly as one man speaks to another. GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. JAZER- he that helps ;' a city at the foot of the mountains of Gilead, near a small river of the same name, which falls into the Jordan. BEZER-was in the tribe of Reuben; it was situated in a desert part of the country, near Arabia. RAMOTH-was in Gilead, in the portion of Gad; it was not far from the Jabbok, and but sixteen miles from Rabbah; it was in after years the scene of many wars. GOLAN-belonged to the tribe of Manasseh; it stood a short distance west of the lake of Galilee. The district around it was afterwards called Gaulo. nitis. KADESH-NAPHTALI-a city, as its name imports, in the portion of Naphtali. SHECHEM-a city in the valley between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. Lesson 13. HEBRON-a very ancient city, formerly called Kirjath-arba; it was in the inheritance of Judah. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob resided at Hebron, and it was a place of much importance in the later history of the Israelites. LEBANON white;' so called from its snow-capped summits; an extensive mountain range on the northern boundary of Palestine; its cedars, streams, and wines are often referred to in Scripture. At present there are not more than 500 cedars growing upon its sides, while the vines which once grew in abundance on its declivities have nearly disappeared for want of culture. Moses longed to see "that goodly mountain, even Lebanon." MERIBAH-strife;' one of the places where the Israelites encamped; it was on the western arm of the Red Sea. Lesson 27, 'should not.' NEBO one of the mountains in the Abarim range; it was opposite Jericho, and commanded an extensive view of the promised land. MOAB-the country on the east of the Dead Sea. Lesson 28. PERIOD III.] A PROPHET'S OLD AGE. "AND MOSES WAS A HUNDRED-AND-TWENTY YEARS OLD WHEN HE DIED; HIS EYE WAS NOT DIM, NOR HIS NATURAL FORCE ABATED." How lightly o'er thy guarded head Thy natural vigour unimpair'd, Had age so vigorous and serene, Not thus had history's page unroll'd But thus conspicuously was shown That we, who sooner reach life's close, On his eternal truth, Who, if to Him alone we live, BARTON. PERIOD IV. FROM THE ENTRANCE INTO CANAAN TO THE ANOINTING OF SAUL. B.C. 1451-B.C. 1096. 355 years. 30. JOSHUA SUCCEEDS MOSES. JERICHO TAKEN. Joshua i.-vi. Seventy souls of the house of Jacob went into Egypt when Joseph sent for his father, his brothers, and their families. Six hundred thousand Israelites left Egypt besides the women and the children. Of this large number only two, Joshua and Caleb, were permitted to enter into Canaan. After the death of Moses, Joshua became the leader of the Israelites as God had appointed; the Lord said unto Joshua, “Arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life; as I was with Moses so I will be with thee; I will not fail thee nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. And this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." Joshua sent two spies to Jericho; and they came into Rahab's house, and lodged there. The king of Jericho heard of them, and he sent men to take them; but Rahab concealed the men, and afterwards let them escape through a window. Before the men left her house she told them that terror had fallen upon all the people of the land because of the Israelites; and she made them promise that when God should give the city into their hand, they would spare her life, and the lives of her parents, and brethren, and sisters. |