_Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem._ JOSHUA’S LAST FAREWELL I. God’s threefold mercies. 1. Israel’s enlargement (verses 2-4). 2. Israel’s exodus (verses 5-7). 3. Israel’s entrance into Canaan (verses 8-12). II. Joshua’s threefold appeal. 1. He exhorts them to fear and serve... [ Continue Reading ]
_I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir._ CERTAIN SINGULAR SUBJECTS I. History and the hand of God in it. See: “I gave”; and then again, “I gave.” It is not merely that Esau and Jacob were born of Isaac and Rebekah, but the Lord says, “I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau.”... [ Continue Reading ]
_Not with thy sword, nor with thy bow._ NOT WITH SWORD OR BOW A very necessary reminder, applicable to both the hour of conflict and victory. Both seasons have their own dangers. There is no final conflict or victory in this life; only when death has finished our course should we be hopeless or ex... [ Continue Reading ]
_And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour._ THE INHERITANCE OF THE PAST The substance of these closing words of the old Hebrew chief amounted to this: they had had vastly more done for them than they had done or could have done for themselves. They were not the sole nor the chief arc... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve Him._ THE LAST DAYS OF JOSHUA I. The reasonableness of serving God (verses 14, 15). To serve God, to obey Him, to love Him, to submit heart and life to His control, is only a seemly and adequate acknowledgment of claims felt to be just. God’s character, His... [ Continue Reading ]
_Choose you this day whom ye will serve._ THE CHRISTIAN’S CHOICE “Seem evil unto you to serve the Lord!” How can the service of the Lord seem evil to any one who is not either wholly void of understanding or altogether hardened against religious impressions? The service of God is exclusive. It doe... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye cannot serve the Lord: for He is an holy God._ THE COVENANT RENEWED I. The difficulty of serving God. “Ye cannot serve the Lord.” It was a staggering admonition. It embodied what theologians have called the doctrine of “moral inability.” The seat of the disorder is in the will. There is the co... [ Continue Reading ]
_If ye forsake the Lord _. .. _ He will turn _ MERCIES ABUSED, THE PRECURSORS OF WRATH I_._ The reasonableness of expecting that abused mercies must lead to more aggravated punishment. We see this clearly in the history of Israel. Their career as a nation was marked by perfidy and ingratitude; at... [ Continue Reading ]
_Joshua made a covenant._ THE COVENANT OF JOSHUA “That day” was a very notable day in the annals of the children of Israel; its transactions might well be recorded in the volume of the book and engraven on the monumental stone. All the favours which God had promised to their fathers while yet they... [ Continue Reading ]
_Joshua _. .. _ took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the Lord._ THE DEVOUT SOUL AND NATURE Solemnity of occasion. Joshua, dying, calls upon the nation to “choose whom you will serve.” Here we have-- 1. A wise effort to impress and perpetuate religious... [ Continue Reading ]
_Joshua _. .. _ died._ THE BURIALS OF DISTINGUISHED SAINTS Within the compass of the five last verses of this book three deaths are recorded and three burial-places signalised by the deposited remains of the most distinguished saints. After all we have seen in Canaan, let us visit the sepulchre of... [ Continue Reading ]