SERMON XV.

CHARACTER OF RAHAB.

JOSHUA, CHAP. II. VER. 1.

"And Joshua the son of Nun, sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho; and they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there."

THERE are several particulars in the history, recorded in this text, and the subsequent verses of the chapter to which it belongs, that seem to require some further developement than is presented by a bare recital of the transaction which we are about to consider. It is important, in studying the Sacred Writings, that we should exercise our discernment calmly and dispassionately, in order that we may arrive at a correct view, and entertain a just appreciation of the

characters there introduced to our notice; so that the instructive moral to be extracted from their actions, whether in good or in evil, may not be lost upon us, but stored up among those unfailing treasures, to be eventually deposited where they will be enjoyed for ever among the glorious company of heaven.

There is much practical wisdom to be derived from the historical narrative of the Bible. Every character there presented to our view, proposes a lesson from which we may derive great spiritual benefit, if we will only study it with a view to render it profitable to us, as beings pursuing the same journey to a land of everlasting rest, which they were alike destined to pursue, who actually possessed the earthly Canaan, before it was occupied by the chosen generation; that seed to whom it was especially promised for a possession. The characters which history presents to us, show, as in a mirror, the great results of actions, whether detrimental or beneficial, and thus become, as it were, way-marks to the traveller, pointing alike to the broad road leading to destruction, and to the narrow path terminating in glory. The inscription is sufficiently legible to direct our best choice; we have therefore no excuse if we adopt the worst.

From the importance attached to many of the personages in Holy Writ, and the vast consequences arising out of their conduct, in ages long subsequent, when, but for the memorial of them preserved in the Sacred Records, their existence

would have passed into oblivion, they become objects of deep interest to all who love to trace the wonderful dispensations of Providence, in those early periods of the world when profane history was silent, and we have the unobstructed light only of the Bible to direct us.

Although the actions of those persons celebrated by the sacred penman, are, for the most part, slightly touched upon by him, with whom, in a history so diverse and multiplied, brevity was not only desirable but necessary; it becomes us to consider them with a profound and holy scrutiny, that we may lose nothing of that experimental knowledge-experimental, not indeed immediately in ourselves, but conveyed to us, as by a reflex agency, through the lives of others-and at the same time improve that "spiritual discernment" which God requires of, and will impart to, all who diligently seek him.

It is indeed true, that in such an enquiry as that which I am now about to enter upon, we have often nothing better than conjecture to direct us, a doubtful and, frequently, it must be confessed, a fallacious guide; still, when taken up with a suitable temper, and with an earnest desire to ascertain the truth, in the pure spirit of Christian humility, and reliance on divine aid in the advancement of our holy wishes, it can scarcely happen that we shall fall into any dangerous or fatal error. We are not likely to be diverted from the right course of investigation if we pursue it worthily; if our motives are pure

and our intentions honest, and although we should fail of coming to an exact conclusion, our investigation, nevertheless, cannot be unprofitable. Where positive proof is denied to us, we must content ourselves with reasonable probability, the latter being a very trustworthy director in the absence of the former, since there must always be a close, though not an exact, correspondency, between the probable and the true. We are, moreover, justified in believing that which is probable to be true, when we can obtain no better assurance. "That we ought to follow probability, where we are without proof," observes a very sensible writer, "is evident, because where there is no greater certainty to be had, it becomes our only light and guide; and it must be reasonable to direct our steps by probability, when we have nothing clearer to walk by; and, if it be reasonable, we are obliged to do it. When there is nothing in the opposite scale, or nothing of equal weight, this, in the course of nature must turn the beam."* I think every candidly judging person will readily concur in these views. I know not that they can be justly contradicted.

Before we enter into a detailed examination of the character and conduct of Rahab, which is the immediate object of this discourse, and will be of others to follow it, I shall briefly state the transaction upon which our knowledge of that character exclusively rests. Upon the death of Moses, the command of the armies of Israel

* Wollaston's Religion of Nature, p. 59.