God assumes that His people will be faithful. He does not prove them before He blesses them. He treats them as a peculiar people already, in order to make them peculiar. He foresees their coming unfaithfulness, but He does not, even on that account, withhold His good gifts. He still gives the good land, with all its accompanying mercies, and does but warn His people that the gifts are conditional. In view of this spirit, the following thoughts may be expanded and illustrated:

I. God proposes to make men His children by treating them as His children.

II. God the Father gives to men abundantly in the present, that He may prepare them to enjoy the still more abundant mercy of the future.

III. To repudiate God's fatherhood, and to ignore the purpose of His fatherly gifts, is to be cut off from the joys of childhood altogether.

CHAPTER XXIV.

JOSHUA'S FINAL ADDRESS: HIS DEATH AND BURIAL. CRITICAL NOTES.-1. To Shechem] This gathering was apparently held a few weeks or months after that named in the previous chapter. There was great appropriateness in the selection of Shechem. Here the covenant was first given to Abram (Gen. xii. 6, 7); in the immediate neighbourhood Jacob seems to have renewed it (Gen. xxxiii. 19, 20), and under an oak at Shechem he had "put away the strange gods" of his family (Gen. xxxv. 2-4), as Joshua now reminded the Israelites (ver. 23); here, also, the covenant had been renewed after the fall of Ai (chap. viii. 30-35). No place could be more fit than Shechem for Joshua's parting words, in which the covenant was once more solemnly established with the people. All the tribes] The assembly named in chap. xxiii. was one of the elders only; this was a gathering once more to Ebal of all the men of Israel. They presented themselves before God] "It is possible, as some have supposed, that the tabernacle and the ark were brought hither from Shiloh on this occasion; but the phrase 'before God' (lit. 'before Elohim') does not necessarily imply this; nor does even the phrase 'before the Lord' (lit. 'before Jehovah') always do so (cf., e.g., Judges xi. 11), though used sometimes with reference to the tabernacle, as in Joshua xviii. 6." [Speaker's Com.] 2. On the other side of the flood] " Nāhār," here used with the article, would be better rendered "the river," a term specially applied to the Euphrates, which is indicated. Dean Stanley points out that "the words so often occurring in Ezra, 'beyond the river,' and 'on this side the river,' though without the article, refer to the Euphrates." They served other gods] It is not said whether or not Abram joined in this idolatry. Some think these elohim of Terah and Nahor to have been the same as the teraphim of Laban named in Gen. xxxi. 19, 34. 11. The men of Jericho] "The phrase ba alay y' richo is noteworthy. It means, apparently, the owners or burghers of Jericho (cf. Judges ix. 6; 2 Sam. xxi. 12)." [Speaker's Com.] 12. And I sent the hornet before you] This is evidently a figurative expression for terror or fear. The meaning seems to be identical with that in Ex. xxiii. 27: "I will send my fear before thee," a similar reference to hornets following in the succeeding verse in that place. The same association of the hornet and the terror of God is found in Deut. vii. 20, 21. 14. Now therefore fear the Lord] "The marvellous history so clearly and succinctly recounted was the natural preface for the exhortation which here begins." [Crosby] Put away the gods which your fathers served] That is, Put away all gods made by men. Probably Joshua did not allude to exactly the same kind of gods as those worshipped by Terah, as Crosby suggests, who thinks that the Israelites may have kept some of the actual teraphim, named in Gen. xxxi. 34, as heirlooms among their families. His other suggestion, that some of the idols of the subdued Canaanites had been preserved as curiosities, and were in danger of being presently regarded with reverence, is far more natural and likely. We cannot actually decide whether Joshua alluded to gods cherished "in heart," or to images preserved in the tents of the people. It should not, however, be forgotten that even in the wilderness the Israelites are said to have shown manifest tendencies to idolatry (cf. Ex. xxxii.; Amos v. 25, 26; Acts vii. 39-43), as numbers of them had previously done in Egypt (Ezek. xx. 6-24). 19, Ye cannot serve Jehovah] Joshua here bids the people count the cost of the decision expressed in verse 16. They could not serve Jehovah in the indifferent spirit of idolatry; for He was altogether unlike the gods which were no gods, and which therefore could not punish faithlessness. Jehovah was both holy and jealous, and Joshua would have the people weigh carefully their words of fealty. The idol gods which were no gods might be served godlessly, but Jehovah God must be worshipped with the whole heart by all who professed to be His servants. 21. Nay, but we will serve Jehovah] This second answer of the people shows that they understood Joshua's words in the sense of the foregoing remarks. Though it was so difficult and so fearful a thing to follow Jehovah, yet Him only would they serve, a determination which is once more expressed in the verse that follows.

22. Put away the strange gods] Cf. on verse 14. The reiteration here seems to favour the idea that some of the people had idols actually in their possession. 25. Joshua made a covenant] Lit., "cut a covenant," from Kārath, “to cut," "to cut off." "Karath B'rith, to make a covenant, so used from slaying and dividing the victims, as was customary in making a covenant (cf. Gen. xv. 18; Jer. xxxiv. 8, 18)." [Gesen.] 26. Under an oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. Heb., "under THE oak which was IN the sanctuary of Jehovah," alluding, not to the tabernacle, but to the holy place of history which God had consecrated by appearing there to Abram (Gen. xii. 6), and which Jacob had further made sacred by putting away the strange gods of his household (Gen. xxxv. 4), including, most likely, the teraphim of Laban stolen by Rachel. 27. It hath heard all the words] "Compare, for this bold figure, Hab. ii. 11, and our Saviour's own words, Luke xix. 40." [Crosby.] 30. Timnath-serah] For the site of this place, see note on chap. xix. 50. 32. The bones of Joseph, etc.] "It does not follow from the position of this statement at the end of the book, that the bones were not buried till after the death of Joshua." [Keil.] The statement, however, is inserted to show that the oath which their fathers had given to Joseph had not been forgotten or neglected by the Israelites. Moses, in his turn, had been mindful of the trust (Ex. xiii. 19). 33. A hill that pertained to Phinehas] Heb.=" the hill of Phinehas," or "Gibeah of Phinehas," in the same manner as we afterwards hear of "Gibeah of Saul." The word Gibeah is in the construct state. If a proper name, which seems unlikely, it should be read "Gibeath-Phinehas."

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.-Verses 1—13.

REVIEWING THE PAST.

"This chapter brings before us another representative assembly-at Shechem this time, and not at Shiloh-in which Joshua renews the covenant between the people and God, as he had done nearly thirty years before in the same place (chap. viii. 30-35). The former address of Joshua seems to have been delivered in the belief that he was soon to leave this world, and was prompted by his ardent desire for the purity of the people, who would, he knew, be sorely tempted away from God by the idolatrous population among them. This address, however, and the assembly at which it was delivered, were appointed by Divine direction, as we see by the phrase 'before God,' in ver. 1, and by the formula, Thus saith Jehovah, God of Israel,' in ver. 2. The former occasion was, so to speak, a private conference of Joshua with Israel. This occasion was an official conference, in which Joshua acted as the Divine legate."-[Crosby.]

In the opening paragraph of this chapter we see the following things:-I. Men called to remember their lowly origin. The forefathers of these Israelites were idolaters (ver. 3). Joshua bade them remember that. He bade them remember it by the word of the Lord. The people had been exterminating idolaters. They had entered into the inheritance of idolaters. Yet, but for the grace of God, these Israelites had been idolaters also. Terah was an idolater, and perhaps Abraham also. In effect, Joshua says to these Israelites, as Isaiah seven centuries later said to their children, "Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged." 1. A great people should remember that they were not always great. Somewhere in the distance backward, things were very lowly with every nation, and with every family. 2. A religious people should remember that they were not always religious. A religious nation should remember it collectively. The men of such a nation should remember it individually. Paul drew a dreadful picture of men who could not inherit the kingdom of God, and then said to the Corinthians, "And such were some of you." 3. A great or a religious man should be humble in view of his origin. The "bar-sinister on the escutcheon should also be taken into the account. Water will not rise beyond the level of its source. In outward things, men may rise far above their origin; but a wise man will say to his spirit, "There are possibilities of weakness and sin in my nature as bad as that worst place back there in the past; and let my circumstances rise as they may, my pride shall rise no higher than the poor low level of my own or my fathers' shame. What has been may be again." II. Men told to consider God's more quiet providences. 1. In raising

up the chief of their national predecessors. Israel had been blessed by God with men of power (ver. 4, 5). Humanly, they were what they were through their leaders. God had given them an ancestor in Abraham to shew the power of obedience and faith. God had given them "a plain man" of meditative mood, and had shewn in Isaac that even such a mind, if pious, might occupy a conspicuous place in a nation's history. God had given to them Jacob, a man of great industry and power to accumulate wealth; and then, as the getting of the wealth had been associated with Jacob's sin, sweeping all of it away, and leaving the man to die a dependant in Egypt, God had shewn that through an ardent religious faith there may come to posterity a nobler legacy than riches could ever bestow. God had given to them Moses, through whom He had founded civil liberty, and also Aaron, through whom He had established spiritual worship. A man can be nothing without a nation; a nation can be nothing without leaders; leaders can be nothing without God to raise them up and to cause them to be strong. In the battles of Homer and Virgil, it is the leaders who are made to do all the effective fighting. That is a true picture of life in one sense, and in another sense it is very untrue. No nation can come to the greatness of many triumphs where the people do not bear the brunt of the battle; but then, no people ever did strive on to continuous victory, to whom God had not given strong leaders to guide and control their energy. The people are the force; true leaders are its right application. In these gifts of leading men to a nation, we see what have been termed God's more quiet providences. They, also, are a gift of power. Here we see nothing of force as symbolised in the strong wind, the thunder, and the earthquake; but rather of force as seen in the dew, the air, the light, and the still small voices of nature. In some gifts God displays power; in others He prepares power. Such a preparation and treasuring of power is in God's gift of real men to form the mind of a nation. 2. In choosing or rejecting the families which composed their nation. "And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau." Yet Jacob alone became the father of Israel, and Esau was portioned off with Mount Seir. If Esau's family had blended with that of Jacob, probably Israel would never have had even the measure of religious life which it eventually possessed. At so early a stage in the national history, the more open and reckless character of Esau, with his lack of reverence for the godly traditions of his fathers, could not but have exercised a bad influence. In matters like these we can see but little; we can see but little more than this, God makes of whom He will the nation and the people whom He would call His own. III. Men asked to reflect on God's mighty triumphs. 1. In delivering them from bondage. “I have brought your fathers out of Egypt." God loves to deliver men from the toil of bondage; from the shame and pain of bondage; from the social wrongs of bondage. 2. In the overthrow of powerful enemies. The Egyptians, by the miracle at the Red Sea (ver. 6, 7). The Amorites, by ordinary warfare and the supernatural imposition of fear (ver. 8, 12). Balak and Balaam, by wonderful and various instruments: now a voice, and then a vision; here an angel, there an ass (ver. 9, 10). The tribes of the assembled Canaanites, by the overthrow of the walls of Jericho. God had done great things for the people, whereof Joshua would see them glad. God would have us to sing of His triumphs for us, in order that the joy of the Lord may be our strength for yet more triumphs. IV. Men bidden to contemplate God's gracious gifts (ver. 13). They had a land for almost no labour, cities without building, and vineyards and oliveyards which others had planted. 1. No man is so poor but he has some of God's gifts on which his eye may rest every day. 2. The gifts which a man has in sight are the fruit of many other gifts of God which are no longer visible. Our daily bread is with us, but not the rain and the genial influences of light and heat by which God produced the harvest. Raiment is ours, but a thousand good and too often forgotten things lie unseen behind every garment which we wear. It is so with health, with capital, and with the social possessions in a man's household. There

is a crown laid up in heaven, but it is because of the cross on Calvary. There is a good hope of eternal life, and that, too, is "through grace" which was long poured out, ere such hope entered into the heart by which it is cherished.

OUTLINES AND COMMENTS ON THE VERSES.

Verse 1.-THE ASSEMBLY AT SHECHEM. Calvin and a few others have thought that this meeting at Shechem was part of the same gathering as that of which we have a record in the preceding chap