CONTENTS The subject which opened in the preceding Chapter, of the backsliding of Israel; from the Lord, is prosecuted in this. Here are inserted the names of Israel ' s enemies, which acted as instruments in the divine hand, for Israel's correction. Some account of their punishment, and of their h... [ Continue Reading ]
This is an interesting chapter, and the first verse acts as a key to let us into the meaning of it. The Lord, we are told, left those nations to prove Israel. Hence we learn, that the trials of God's people are of God's appointment. I stay not to dwell much upon the historical part of it, for I thin... [ Continue Reading ]
Those who have no knowledge of the corruption of the human heart, would be at a loss to conceive the possibility of such abominable conduct in Israel. But alas! what is not the human heart capable of doing, if left for one moment to itself! Read that solemn scripture, and pause over it, with an eye... [ Continue Reading ]
Here we have the relation of the first conqueror of Israel. King of Mesopotamia means, in the midst of rivers; probably so called from being situated between the two great rivers, the Euphrates and the Tigris. Eight years subjugation, no doubt, was long and grievous. Alas! how many years do God's pe... [ Continue Reading ]
Observe; before Israel's deliverance there was a cry to God for relief. How sweet is it to see when from the first descent of grace in the heart, the soul goes forth in the ascending prayer for mercy. Dearest Jesus! let thy prevenient grace be shed abroad in my heart; and then, the earnest supplicat... [ Continue Reading ]
Othniel is the first judge of Israel after Joshua ' s death. But Reader! do not fail to observe, how he became the deliverer of Israel. It was because the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. Oh! how precious is it to see that uniformity in every instance: that it is, not by might, nor by power, but by... [ Continue Reading ]
Observe how many years the land had rest after God's deliverance. But oh! what an everlasting rest remaineth for the people of God, when Jesus hath given them rest, who is indeed himself the rest of his weary and afflicted ones. Hebrews 4:9; Matthew 11:28.... [ Continue Reading ]
There is a great degree of meaning in that little word again. Israel did evil again. Even Israel, God's people, and who had received from the Lord such a series of mercies. And what made their iniquity the more odious was, that it was again, after that they had smarted for it, and after so much merc... [ Continue Reading ]
The last servitude was eight years, and this eighteen. Observe, how the Lord, according to his promise, increaseth the stripes upon increased rebellion. See Leviticus 26:27.... [ Continue Reading ]
Reader! do not fail to remark, how grace manifests itself in the heart. When the Lord is about to appear in any remarkable manner, very frequently he sets his people to prayer. And then that promise is fulfilled, Isaiah 65:24. Read another, to the same effect, Isaiah 30:18. This Ehud was the second... [ Continue Reading ]
Every circumstance related in this transaction, manifests that it was of God. Eglon was overawed at the supposed message from God, so as to arise. His servants were blinded to any thoughts of suspicion, from this visit of an enemy. And the event, in Ehud's safety, until he had escaped beyond the pow... [ Continue Reading ]
This Shamgar was the third of the Judges which judged Israel. We have but a short account of him. But even this is as a Deliverer. As he rescued Israel from the Philistines, I am inclined to think the seat of his government lay south, and not to the east, on the banks of Jordan, as the situation of... [ Continue Reading ]
REFLECTIONS MY soul! learn here again, in the history of Israel, how much in all ages the church of God is the same, and how uniformly the Lord is training his people for himself. God leaves his people in the midst of their enemies, to try them, and to prove them. As polished stones, for his temple,... [ Continue Reading ]