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High-priest, who should try to bring them back to obedience. This step prevented a fratricidal war; the transJordanic tribes gave a satisfactory explanation: the altar had not been built by them for sacrifice or for public and private worship, but merely as a witness of their union with their brethren in the west of the Jordan, and as a means of securing to their descendants the privileges and the glory of belonging to the people of God. This account, given in good faith, was accepted, and the harmony of the tribes was happily preserved.

67. DEATH OF JOSHUA.

[JOSH. XXIII. XXIV.]

Joshua's great task was now ended; he had led the people into Palestine, and had laid the foundations of the new commonwealth. The valiant soldier had worked unremittingly; he was advanced in years, and his rest was near at hand. Once more he summoned the Israelites, who assembled round him at Shechem to hear his parting words. Like Moses, Joshua impressed upon them faith in God, obedience to His Law, utter destruction of all idols, and separation from the idolaters. He pointed out the dangers that still encompassed them; he added warningly, As all good things are come upon you which the Lord has promised, so shall the Lord bring upon you all evil things, when you transgress the covenant of the Lord your God;' and with increasing force he concluded, And if it seem evil to you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.' Could the Israelites withstand an appeal so just

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and so earnest? They promised, no doubt with all sincerity: God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods.' But how soon were they to prove faithless to their pledge!

To commemorate his last words, Joshua set up a stone pillar under the oak near the Sanctuary at Shechem. He died 110 years old, about B.C. 1450, and was buried in Timnath-Serah in Mount Ephraim, near Shechem. Within the boundaries of the same tribe, in Shechem, were deposited the bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought with them out of Egypt. Not long afterwards the High-priest Eleazar, the son of Aaron, died, and he was buried in a ground belonging to his family in Mount Ephraim.

Thus all the men who had witnessed the wonderful times of the deliverance from Egyptian bondage, passed away; but the memory of the great leader and lawgiver Moses lived among their descendants to cheer and to guide them on their difficult and dangerous path.

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V. THE TIME OF THE JUDGES.

68. GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE PERIOD.

[JUDG. I. II. XVII.—XXI.]

AFTER the death of the brave Joshua followed a wild and lawless time, when every man did that which seemed right in his own eyes.' Joshua left no successor capable of ruling the entire nation by vigilance and energy, no one master spirit, eager to grasp the sword and to continue the warfare with the heathen. The High-priest Phinehas, who presided at the common Tabernacle in Shiloh, exercised only religious authority. Thus the nation divided itself into separate clans, each clustering round its own chieftain or leader. And yet the country was far from perfectly conquered; the Israelites were threatened by constant feuds and disturbances from the native inhabitants. Encircled by dauntless enemies, each tribe had to contend for its own safety or existence: often Judah dwelt in peaceful repose when the more northern tribes were fighting on the battle-field; and the latter rested from their labours when the warriors of Judah wrung Jebus from its old inhabitants. The Hebrew nation no longer marched out as one man from Dan to Beer-sheba' to maintain the honour and the glory of the whole community union in spirit and in action was wanting; nay,

jealousy or fierce violence led occasionally to strife and warfare between the tribes themselves.

Yet in times of great peril and distress, men of valour and intelligence usually arose to lead the Hebrew soldiers to battle and victory, and to conciliate by their authority the conflicting factions of the commonwealth. These men were 'the Judges,' a term which conveys but a partial idea of their duties and offices-namely, those which they performed when their successful leadership against the enemy had restored peace. They were therefore not regularly appointed, nor did they follow each other in unbroken succession, but they were acknowledged in periods of exceptional difficulty; and then, when the danger had been overcome by their help, they naturally commanded the respect of the people, and were allowed to exercise supreme jurisdiction.

The different tribes carried on the war of conquest as best they could. Judah and Simeon joined each other, and defeated the Canaanites and Perizzites at Bezek, seizing and mutilating Adoni-bezek, the king; Judah next took and partially burnt Jerusalem, and then continued a successful expedition in the southern districts of the province and at the sea-coast, subduing the cities of Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron. The Ephraimites occupied the holy place Beth-el; and the small tribe of Dan, finding itself molested by the Amorites, pressed northwards, and took possession of the town Laish.

The account of this migration of the Danites is highly instructive, as it well illustrates the lawless character of the age. From Zorah and Eshtaol, two older possessions of the Danites in the central parts of the land, five men were sent as spies to the northern regions of the country. On their way, they came to the house of a certain Micah in Mount Ephraim, where he dwelt with his mother. He had instituted in his house a private worship by means of

an ephod and teraphim, of a graven and molten image. At first he made one of his sons priest at this domestic shrine; but when a young Levite, wandering about homeless and aimless, passed his house, he secured his services for a small allowance-ten shekels of silver and a suit of apparel annually, besides his food-and exclaimed with a glow of satisfaction, 'Now I know that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to be my priest!' And yet the Law specially forbids all outward form of worship at any place except the Tabernacle, which was then at Shiloh.

When the five spies from Dan noticed the Levite in Micah's house, they requested him to consult the Divine oracle in their behalf; the answer was entirely encouraging: Go in peace; before the Lord is your way wherein you go.' The words of the Levite proved true; the men went on to Laish, saw that the town was easy of conquest, and the surrounding country rich and beautiful, and returned to their tribe with a most favourable report. Six hundred Danites marched out to take possession of the explored territory. On their way, they also came to the house of Micah, and, prompted by the five spies, they seized the sacred images and statues, and persuaded the Levite, who at first opposed their acts of violence, to accompany them to their new homes and to be their priest. They set at nought the imploring appeals of Micah, who prayed in vain for the restoration of his gods and his Levite. They then marched upon Laish, took the town, called it Dan, and set up the graven image, which continued to be worshipped there under the direction of Levites all the time that the House of God was in Shiloh,' nay, until the very time of the captivity of the land.'

Another event recorded in the Book of Judges, an event full of barbarous wickedness, cruelty, and bloodshed, characterises the unchecked confusion of the time even more strongly. A Levite with one of his wives was

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