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CHAPTER V.

JOSHUA.

BORN, A.M. 2452. b.c. 1552-DIED, A.M. 2561. B.C. 1443.

THE disappearance of a person of eminence from the scene of useful A.m. 2553. labour, is apt to occasion a feeling of despondency in survivors. They B.C. 1451. look around for a competent successor, with an air of vacant and wondering inquiry, which is strongly expressive of the deep-seated apprehension, that no one is to be found adapted to occupy the forsaken office, in a manner equally or comparably honourable. Affectionate remembrance magnifies the virtues, and assiduously obliterates the imperfections, of the departed friend or ruler who once inspired confidence in every bosom, or shed a lustre upon the annals of his country and if feelings of this nature are prompted by the ordinary deprivations of life, or the common course of human affairs, it is easy to believe that the sentiment of regret would be most poignant in every Israelitish heart at the loss of such a well tried leader as Moses. But he who had taken this singular people under his patronage, was at no loss to accomplish his purposes by raising up qualified agents, and did not suffer them to remain destitute of a guide long trained and precisely suited to their circumstances. Moses had, indeed, previously to his departure, been directed of God to place JOSHUA over the congregation; to give him a public admonition respecting the diligent discharge of his office; and, according to the remarkable phraseology of the Scriptures, "to put some of Num. xxvii. his honour upon him.'

20.

to the

Joshua assumed the government of Israel about A.M. 2553. He Joshua's was the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, originally called Osea accession or Hosea; but Moses made the alteration to commemorate his government. appointment to spy out the land; and to intimate, according to the A.M. 2553. Hebrew idiom, the assurance of salvation. Hence, he was not to be denominated, vw, Hosea, salvator, but v Joshua, dominus salvator: corresponding, both in title and character, to Jesus, the author of eternal salvation; of whom, conformably to the character of the Jewish dispensation, he was an eminent type.

cations.

Of his qualifications for the station to which he was elevated, we His qualifihave the most decisive testimony of God himself, which is amply corroborated by his splendid career. His personal courage, integrity, and piety, are always conspicuous; and he was instrumental in those

18.

Deut. xxxiv. 9.

66

A.M. 2553. successes which have raised him to the pinnacle of heroic fame. He B.C. 1451. was a man in whom was the spirit;""full of the spirit of wisdom;" Num. xxvii. sometimes obtaining his information by immediate revelation, sometimes from the sanctuary, and by Eleazar the high priest, Aaron's son, who consulted God by the Urim and Thummim, when he presented himself before the veil opposite the mercy seat, and was answered by a voice issuing from that sacred spot. The ancient Talmudists, in common with universal tradition, represent him as the author of that perspicuous and striking narrative which appears under his name; in which, with the faithfulness of the historian, the piety of the saint, and the ardour of a hero personally engaged in conducting the military operations recorded, he carries forward the history of Israel through seven years, during which the conquest of Canaan was completing, and eighteen additional ones of his subsequent government: the book itself, which includes the death of Eleazar, proceeds about five or six years by another pen. Divine com- It is not improbable that, knowing the warlike spirit of the nations munication whom the Israelites were about to dispossess of their territory, and

to him

Prepara

attack on Canaan.

the preparations which the report of the meditated attack had induced them to make, Joshua felt the necessity of some assurance immediately from Heaven, to afford him encouragement. Accordingly, he was no sooner invested with the supreme authority, than God spake to him, either immediately from the sanctuary, or by some angelic messenger, in terms which were highly calculated to dissipate every apprehension. He was given to understand, that to him should be accorded similar assistance and success as were bestowed on his illustrious predecessor; and that, upon the condition of his strict adherence to every command of the law, the promised possession should become an easy conquest. He was to act with the same zeal and courage, as though the result depended exclusively upon his exertions; but at the same time to preserve in constant recollection, that the real and supreme governor of Israel employed him only as an agent of his providence.

After these intimations the Hebrew general issued his orders. tions for the In three days they were to attempt the passage of the Jordan, and to prepare a supply of provisions, probably because the miraculous supply of manna was beginning to fail, as they had attained the extremity of the wilderness. This provision they were enabled to obtain from the country of Sihon and Og, which they had lately subdued, and in which they at present sojourned. In the mean time two spies were despatched to collect information respecting the state of the opposite shores, especially the fortifications of Jericho, which was to be first assaulted. By some good contrivance the spies entered the city, and were received into the house of Rahab, who was probably the keeper of a public lodging-house. The king was soon informed, however, of the entrance of these strangers, and suspicious of every such intruder at so momentous a crisis, he shut

Spies sent to Jericho.

the gates and sent in search of the men. Their hostess, to conceal A.M. 2553. them from this dangerous inquiry, took them up to the roof of her B.C. 1451. house, and covered them over with some stalks of flax, stating in reply to the questions of the king's officers, that the two strangers had made but a very cursory stay at her house, departing at the close of the evening; and if they had a wish to secure them, no doubt they might be easily overtaken: by which deception the officers were inveigled into an useless pursuit towards the fords of Jordan. No sooner were they out of sight, than she hastened to the spies, expressed her firm conviction that their God was the supreme sovereign of the world, whose miraculous interpositions on behalf of their nation had struck her countrymen with the utmost alarm, and that the land would inevitably be subdued by their arms; soliciting at the same time a benevolent requital of the kindness she had that day manifested towards them, in the future protection of herself and family. This was instantly and solemnly promised; when, as it was dark, and her house was built upon the city wall, she was able to facilitate their escape by means of a cord let down through one of the windows. This scarlet cord was the agreed signal which, on the day of victory, was to distinguish and protect her house. By Rahab's advice the spies remained three days in the neighbouring mountains, and afterwards hastened to the camp to give an account of their adventure, and represent the consternation of the Canaanites.

the river

Joshua immediately advanced to the banks of the river, and pre- Passage of pared to pass over. The country which they had recently conquered Jordan. was bestowed upon the two tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, in order probably to be a barrier, or line of defence for the Israelitish possessions; nevertheless they were to assist their compatriots in the meditated conquest. The general, having marched the army forward, communicated precise directions respecting the particular order in which they were to proceed to the river, which at this period of the year, it being spring, usually overflowed its banks, through the melting of the snow upon mount Lebanon. When they advanced, the priests with the ark went in front, and no sooner had their feet touched the river, than it miraculously divided and stood on heaps on either side, opening a passage for the thousands of Israel. The priests stood in the centre of the bed of the river till the entire movement was accomplished: when, upon their gaining the opposite shore, and rejoining the people, the waters flowed back into their forsaken channel. By divine direction, twelve persons were nominated, an individual from each tribe, to select twelve stones in the middle of the bed of the Jordan, where the priests were commanded to stand; to set them up upon the spot; and to bring twelve others on shore for a similar memorial of the interference of providence. Thus they departed out of the wilderness by miracle, as by miracle they had entered it. Moses

A.M. 2553. conducted them through the Red Sea, and Joshua through the B.C. 1451. river Jordan; the one into the desert, the other into the promised and plentiful land; the one to prove their character, the other to secure their inheritance. These striking coincidences and contrasts it is the business of the historian only to name: the reader will find them worthy of being retraced in the hour of solitary reflection.

Taking of
Jericho.

Two memorable circumstances attended the introduction of the Israelites into the promised land: the renewal of the rite of circumcision, which had been suspended during the long sojourn of the wilderness; and the ceasing of the manna by which they had hitherto been miraculously supported. Gilgal was the first place of their encampment; and so great was the terror that diffused itself throughout the country, that for the present, at least, they had little reason to apprehend any very considerable military impediments to their progress. Joshua seems to have availed himself of the earliest opportunity of going out to survey Jericho, from which place the army was only about two miles distant. Here he was met by an extraordinary personage, either an angel, or as some suppose, the Divinity, in the form of a human being, clothed in armour, with a drawn sword in his hand. Unacquainted with the real character of this appearance, the Hebrew general advanced, and put the question, whether he was a friend or a foe? when the disclosure of his being the captain and guard of Israel, produced in him those reverential feelings which inspired his predecessor at the manifestation of the burning bush. Similar injunctions, also, to put off his sandals were given on the present occasion; and very explicit orders were communicated respecting the manner of conducting the siege of Jericho. The whole army marched round the city six days successively, with seven priests having trumpets formed of rams' horns in their hands, preceding the ark: the armed men went before them, and the rest of the people followed the priestly procession. On the seventh day, the march commenced about the dawn, and the circuit was accomplished seven times, at the last of which Joshua commanded the people to shout, proclaiming the divine will to give them immediate possession of the city: the walls instantly fell flat to the ground in such a manner as to present no obstruction to the conquerors, who hastened forward, spreading the sword of destruction on every hand, irrespective of either age or sex, man or beast. To complete the work, the place was set on fire, and every thing consumed, with the exception of the silver and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, which were reserved for the treasury of the house of the Lord. According to the engagement of the spies, Rahab and her friends were saved amidst the general massacre, with all the property contained in her house. Joshua denounced a solemn curse upon whoever should venture to rebuild the city; which anathema, it was remarked by Maimonides, was pronounced that the miracle of the subversion of Jericho might

be kept in perpetual memory; "for whoever," says he, "saw the A.M. 2553. walls sunk deep into the earth, would clearly discern that this was B.C. 1451. not the form of a building destroyed by men, but miraculously thrown down by God."

upon Ai.

Israelites

Proper persons were now despatched to take a view of Ai, a place Attempt about twelve miles from Jericho, the report of whose inconsiderable size and ill state of defence induced Joshua to send only a detachment of three thousand men, which he supposed to be amply sufficient for its capture. They were, however, entirely routed, and pursued The to their encampment. The effect of this failure was extremely defeated. dispiriting: Joshua rent his clothes, and prostrated himself before the ark of God, while the priests covered their heads with dust, in token of mourning. The expressions of the leader of Israel in his address to heaven on this occasion must be considered as tinctured with too much despondency, and he was ordered to rise from the ground, and instead of indulging in vain complaints or alarming forebodings, to institute an inquiry into the offence which he was given to understand had been committed, to occasion this early disaster. It was soon discovered that, notwithstanding the express injunctions of Joshua previous to the approach upon Jericho, not to spare any part of the property which was found in that devoted city, or to conceal any thing consecrated to a sacred purpose, Achan, a man of the tribe of Judah, seized upon some of the spoil and hid it in his tent. He had secured and appropriated a rich Babylonish garment, with two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight. The culprit, with all his newly acquired treasure, his family, his cattle, and his tent, were immediately taken into a valley, where the goods having been burned, and the several persons connected with him as participators in his crime stoned to death, a heap of stones was collected on the spot as a perpetual monument of this melancholy transaction.

A second attempt against Ai was now arranged by the direction Ai taken. of Heaven. The army advanced on the northern side of the town, and an ambuscade was planted on the western. The king hastened out with his army and the inhabitants, and being drawn to a distance by the feigned retreat of the troops under Joshua's immediate command, the thirty thousand men who constituted the ambuscade sallied forth at a preconcerted signal, and took and destroyed Ai by fire. At the same moment the main body turned upon their pursuers, who were soon cut to pieces: every man, woman, and child, was given to the sword; and the king, having been hung till sunset, was afterwards buried at one of the gates beneath a heap of stones: the cattle were reserved for the use of the victorious Israelites.

Gibeonites.

For the particular circumstances accompanying these and the The future achievements of Joshua, we must refer our readers to the detail of the Sacred History; it being only necessary for us to mark the most important transactions, and offer such general observations

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