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CHAPTER 24.

Joshua's Farewell Address and Death.

A REVIEW OF GOD'S MERCIES.-V. 1. And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, a gigantic assembly of people in the place which was hallowed by so many memories, ever since the time of Abraham, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, chap. 23, 2; and they presented themselves before God, for this last appeal was made in the name of Jehovah. V. 2. And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, as whose representative Joshua was here addressing the people, Your fathers, progenitors, dwelt on the other side of the flood, of the great stream Euphrates, in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor, who lived first in Ur of the Chaldees and then in Haran, Gen. 11, 28. 31; and they, Terah with his family, served other gods, namely, teraphim, Gen. 31, 19. V. 3. And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, the great river Euphrates, out of these dangerous surroundings, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac, in making true the promise concerning his great progeny. V. 4. And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau, Gen. 25, 24; and I gave unto Esau Mount Seir to possess it, Gen. 36, 8; Deut. 2, 5; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt, Gen. 46, 1.6. Thus everything was prepared for the second great proof of God's mercy, the miraculous deliverance of Israel from the bondage of Egypt. V. 5. I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them, in the matter of the great plagues, Ex. 7-10; and afterward I brought you out, Ex. 12. V. 6. And I brought your fathers out of Egypt, Ex. 12, 51; and ye came unto the sea, the Red Sea, Ex. 14, 2; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red Sea, Ex. 14, 9. V.7. And when they cried unto the Lord, He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, Ex. 14, 10. 20, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them, Ex. 14, 27; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt, in punishing both the land and the people; and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season, forty years, chap. 5, 6. The entire description is a noble, impressive account. The Lord now recalls the third proof of His favor and merciful kindness. V. 8. And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, this one name standing for all the heathen nations, but here designating the two branches of this nation dwelling east of Jordan, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you, the armies of Popular Commentary, Old Test., I.

Sihon and of Og, Num. 21, 21. 33; and I gave them into your hand that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you. V. 9. Then Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, he made ready for a campaign against Israel, in case he could get Balaam to curse the invaders, and sent and called Balaam, the son of Beor, to curse you, Num. 22, 5, since he lacked the courage to attack Israel outright; v. 10. but I would not hearken unto Balaam, Jehovah frustrated the evil intentions of the soothsayer; therefore he blessed you still, in spite of himself; so I delivered you out of his hand. Thus were the plans of Balak overthrown and everything made ready for the fourth proof of God's favor, the conquest of Canaan proper. V. 11. And ye went over Jordan, by a miraculous passage, chap. 3, 14, and came unto Jericho; and the men of Jericho fought against you, chap. 6, 1, and not only they, but also the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, chap. 3, 10; and I delivered them into your hand. V. 12. And I sent the hornet before you, in terrifying the nations of the land, Ex. 23, 28; Deut. 7, 20, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites, Sihon and Og, as representatives of the entire heathen host; but not with thy sword nor with thy bow, for it was not Israel's prowess which had subdued the land. V. 13. And I have given you a land for which ye did not labor, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and olive-yards which ye planted not do ye eat. Israel, without any merit on its part, through God's goodness and merciful kindness alone, had received a glorious land, a rich and fertile country, in whose cultivation they were not obliged to labor in the sweat of their brow, but which was given to them in the finest condition, ready to enjoy. We Christians are also obliged to confess, with regard to both the temporal and the spiritual blessings of the Lord, that we are not worthy of the least of all His benefits.

Thus

THE EXACTION OF THE PROMISE TO BE FAITHFUL.-V. 14. Now, therefore, with all these blessings and merciful kindnesses in mind, fear the Lord, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth, without all pretense and feigned deyotion, for all hypocrisy and false piety is an abomination in the sight of the Lord; and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, in Mesopotamia, and in Egypt, for heathenish, idolatrous superstition was still found among the people, although not in its gross form, Lev. 17, 7; and serve ye the

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Lord. V. 15. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, for true service requires the conviction of the heart, choose you this day whom ye will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, beyond Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, the Canaanitish nations, in whose land ye dwell, this form of challenge being the very strongest admonition to loyalty. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. This declaration of Joshua, with all its simplicity, contained a mighty appeal, just as all similar confessions do, arousing the sluggish and strengthening the weak to rally around the Lord. V. 16. And the people, evidently deeply affected by Joshua's fervent sincerity, answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods, the very idea of such apostasy was far from their minds; v. 17. for the Lord, our God, He it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, as the Lord had reminded them in the address of Joshua, and among all the people through whom we passed; v. 18. and the Lord drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land, as they here gratefully acknowledge; therefore will we also serve the Lord, for He is our God. They turn from the service of other gods with every indication of extreme loathing, of deep aversion. V. 19. And Joshua said unto the people, in testing the sincerity of their position, Ye cannot serve the Lord, that is, not without His assistance, for He it is who must work both to will and to do; for He is an holy God; He is a jealous God, Ex. 19, 6; 20, 5; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. So they should not promise faithfulness lightly, but in the full consciousness of the import of their words. V. 20. If ye forsake the Lord and serve strange gods, Gen. 35, 4, then He will turn, assume an entirely different attitude toward them, and do you hurt and consume you after that He hath done you good. Jehovah demands unwavering loyalty, steadfast allegiance. V. 21. And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the Lord. They persist in their determination and uphold their resolution.

V. 22. And

Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves, their declaration would serve as a testimony against them, that ye have chosen you the Lord to serve Him. And they said, We are witnesses. They fully agreed to all that Joshua had said. V. 23. Now, therefore, put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, even the last remnant of idolatrous superstition, and incline your heart unto the

Lord God of Israel, who demands all the heart, all the soul, and all the mind in His service. V. 24. And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord, our God, will we serve, and His voice will we obey. It was the third solemn assurance of loyalty and obedience. V. 25. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, in exacting this promise from them, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. It was a second renewal of the covenant made with Israel on Mount Sinai, Ex. 19, 20; Deut. 28, 69. It is a great and serious thing to serve the Lord, a matter which no man can perform in his own reason and strength, but only in the strength of the grace of God.

JOSHUA'S DEATH AND BURIAL. — V. 26. And Joshua wrote these words, the entire account of the renewal of the covenant, in the Book of the Law of God, as an addition to the law-book of Moses, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak that was by the Sanctuary of the Lord, in the space consecrated by the altars of Abraham and Jacob, Gen. 12, 7; 33, 20, and by the solemn service which had been held there shortly after the coming of Israel into the Land of Promise, chap. 7, 30. V. 27. And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness, a monument and memorial, unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which He spake unto us, during the meeting which had gone before; it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God, it would always serve to remind them of their solemn promise, lest they deny Jehovah by thought, word, or deed. V. 28. So Joshua let the people depart; every man unto his inheritance, to his possession in the section of the country allotted to his tribe. V. 29. And it came to pass after these things that Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, as he is now also called in recognition of his loyalty to Jehovah, died, being an hundred and ten years old, as his progenitor, the patriarch Joseph, before him. V. 30. And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in Mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash, evidently a well-known hill at that time, Judg. 2, 9; 2 Sam. 23, 30. V. 31. And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, literally, "whose days extended beyond those of Joshua," and which had known all the works of the Lord that He had done for Israel. The experiences which these men had gone through in their youth and early manhood served to keep them loyal to the covenant God, and their example influenced the people accordingly. V. 32. And the bones of Joseph which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt buried

JOSHUA 24, 33. — INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF JUDGES. — JUDGES 1, 1.

they in Shechem, Gen. 50, 25. in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for an hundred pieces of silver, Gen. 33, 19; and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. This was in their territory, on the boundary between Manasseh and Ephraim, and thus belonged to them in a twofold sense of the word, by inheritance and by allotment.

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V. 33. And Eleazar, the son of Aaron, died, the second high priest whom Israel had had; and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas, his son, that is, at Gibeah-Phinehas, a city in central Canaan, which was given him in Mount Ephraim. Thus the righteous. enter into their reward and rest in the security of their tombs to the great day of resurrection.

THE BOOK OF JUDGES.

INTRODUCTION.

The Book of Judges covers a period of some three hundred and fifty years, from approximately 1440 to 1090 B. C. It is named from the heroes who were appointed by God as leaders of Israel in the period succeeding Joshua and ending with the rise of Samuel. The exploits of these champions of Israel, whom the Lord endowed with miraculous power in conquering their heathen enemies, form the central and principal part of the book. They are called Judges because they held the highest civil authority in the nation, and they are called Saviors because they repeatedly delivered Israel from its enemies.

The author, after characterizing the political condition and the religious life of Israel during the time of the Judges, gives a brief account of the Judges themselves. The following Judges are named in the book: Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, the woman Deborah and Barak, Gideon, Abimelech, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, and Samson. The deeds of Deborah and Barak, of Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson against the Canaanites, Midianites, Ammonites, and Philistines are treated in greater detail than the others.

Of the general character of the period the following may be said. In his farewell address Joshua had earnestly warned the people against idolatry and solemnly exhorted them to remain faithful to Jehovah, the God of their fathers. They gave their solemn promise, which was kept for that one generation. But their children and descendants turned from the

Lord to idolatry and provoked Him to anger. When the Lord thereupon punished them by giving them into the hands of their enemies to spoil them, they repented and walked in the ways of Jehovah until they had been delivered. But the lesson was invariably soon forgotten; the people relapsed into idolatry, and thus sin, punishment, repentance, and deliverance followed in succession through those centuries. The purpose of the book is to offer a history of Israel from the death of Joshua to the days of Samuel in an account of the chief events and thus to demonstrate the working of the divine justice and mercy as a lesson for all future generations.

Regarding the authorship of the Book of Judges, no definite statement can be made. It was not written before the time of Samuel and probably at a time when Israel already had a king. The ancient tradition which names Samuel as the author may well be correct. The Jewish Talmud makes this assertion with great emphasis, and the vivid presentation seems to point to this prophet, for which reason modern critics have rarely called the statement into question. It may be added that the activity of the Judges is mentioned in both the Old and the New Testament, and that they have always been regarded as types of Christ, the eternal Redeemer of His people.1)

1) Cp. Concordia Bible Class, Mar., 1919, 35. 36; Fuerbringer, Einleitung in das Alte Testament, 27-29.

CHAPTER 1.

Political Conditions of the Period. OVERTHROW OF VARIOUS ENEMIES.-V. 1. Now, after the death of Joshua, which was related in the last chapter of the Book of Joshua, it came to pass, as the author states in taking up the thread of the narrative, that the children of Israel asked the Lord, through the Urim and Thummim of the high priest, Num. 27, 21, saying, Who shall go up

for us against the Canaanites first to fight against them? Joshua had very emphatically enjoined upon them the extermination of the tribes of Canaan which still remained, and therefore the question of the representatives of the entire nation was who it was to be that should initiate the aggressive measures, to which tribe the leadership had been assigned in beginning the final conquest of the land. V. 2.

And the Lord said, Judah shall go up, for this tribe had been made the leader and champion of Israel even by the blessing of Jacob, Gen. 49, 8-10; behold, I have delivered the land into his hand. As it pleased the Lord to receive the inquiry of the people in this manner, so He gave the promise of His divine assistance in the coming struggle. V. 3. And Judah said unto Simeon, his brother, the tribe having its cities in the midst of the possession of Judah, Josh. 19, 1-9, Come up with me into my lot, share, my lot with me, join forces with me in this undertaking, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot, join forces with him in conquering the cities allotted to him. So Simeon went with him. V. 4. And Judah went up, reenforced by the army of Simeon; and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites, who evidently had gained the necessary courage to join their forces at this time, with the purpose of ejecting the invaders, into their hand; and they slew of them in Bezek, a place not yet definitely identified, ten thousand men. V. 5. And they found Adoni-bezek, the leader of the heathen forces, in Bezek; they met his armies there, having been informed of their presence and of their hostile intention; and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites. V. 6. And Adoni-bezek filed; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and great toes, making it impossible for him to use his bow or to escape. V. 7. And Adoni-bezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table; after mutilating them in this manner, he had forced them to pick up their food under his table, where he threw them scraps as he might have done to hungry dogs. As I have done, so God hath requited me; he realized and confessed that he was but receiving his just deserts, that the tribe of Judah simply recompensed him by the direction of God. And they, apparently his own servants, brought him to Jerusalem, for which reason some commentators think that this was his home, and there he died, under the just punishment of God. V. 8. Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, literally, "And there fought the sons of Judah against Jerusalem"; for they followed up the advantage which they had gained and attacked the city which sheltered Adoni-bezek, and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire. Thus the power of this king was definitely broken, although the army of Judah did not take, or retain possession of, the city at this time, probably because they expected the tribe of Benjamin to occupy the stronghold. V. 9. And afterward, after the taking of Jerusalem, the children of Judah, with their allies, went

down to fight against the Canaanites that dwelt in the mountain, in the highland of Judah, and in the south, the steppes toward the southeast and south, and in the valley, the lowland in the west, including Philistia. V. 10. And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron, under the leadership of Caleb; (now the name of Hebron before was Kirjath-arba;) and they slew Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the three sons of Anak; for after the first conquest of the city by Joshua the Anakim had reoccupied it. V. 11. And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir, a city some ten miles southwest of Hebron; and the name of Debir before was Kirjath-sepher; v. 12. and Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjath-sepher and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah, my daughter, to wife. V. 13. And Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it; and he gave him Achsah, his daughter, to wife. V. 14. And it came to pass, when she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field; and she lighted from off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou? V. 15. And she said unto him, Give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs. This paragraph, which agrees exactly with Josh. 15, 14-19, is here repeated to make the zeal of Caleb, the unselfishness of Othniel, and the prudence of Achsah points of instruction. "The thing to be especially noted, however, is the firmness of Othniel in resisting his wife's enticement to make requests which it is more becoming in her to make. Not many men have so well withstood the ambitious and eagerly craving projects of their wives." (Lange.) V. 16. And the children of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, whom Moses had apparently persuaded to join Israel, Num. 10, 29-32, went up out of the city of palmtrees, Jericho, Deut. 34, 3, with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad, a district about eight hours south of Hebron, whose king had attacked Israel during the march through the wilderness, Num. 21, 1; and they went and dwelt among the people, in the immediate neighborhood of Judah, with whom they were allied. V. 17. And Judah went with Simeon, his brother, according to the promise made v. 3, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, on the boundary of the desert, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah, a name sometimes given to it before, but now definitely connected with it, Num. 21, 2; 1 Sam. 30, 29. V. 18. Also Judah, carrying the campaign into the land of the Philistines, took Gaza with the coast thereof, and Askelon with the coast thereof, and Ekron with the coast thereof, three city

states with the smaller towns tributary to them. These the army of Judah took by storm, in a sudden onslaught, but did not garrison them and therefore soon lost them again. V. 19. And the Lord was with Judah, in this campaign of swift destruction; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain, where personal valor and strength were the chief factors in battle; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. When it came to a contest with these engines of destruction, the faith of the soldiers of Judah failed them, causing them to abandon the duty of gaining entire mastery of the land. V. 20. And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said, this taking place after the completion of the conquest, when the entire tribe entered upon its possessions; and he expelled thence the three sons of Anak. Thus the aged hero received the gift which had been promised him. Every one who takes part in the suffering and in the fighting of the people of God will in the end take part in the glorious heritage of the children of God.

VARIOUS HEATHEN LEFT IN CANAAN. — V. 21. And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem, who returned to the city as soon as the armies of Judah and Simeon marched southward; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day. This notice is here inserted partly to show that the conquered city did not remain in the hands of Israel, partly to indicate that Judah had no intention of permanently occupying a city allotted to Benjamin. V. 22. And the house of Joseph, the Manassites and Ephraimites, they also went up against Bethel, a strongly fortified city, whose men had marched to the assistance of Ai, Josh. 8, 17; and the Lord was with them. V. 23. And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel, a scouting party. (Now the name of the city before was Luz, namely, in ancient times, when the country was still in the hands of the Canaanites.) "As Jebus indicated particularly the fortress, Jerusalem the city, although the latter name also embraced both, so a similar relation must be assumed to have existed between Bethel and Luz. Otherwise the border of Benjamin could not have run south of Luz, Josh. 18, 13, while nevertheless Bethel was reckoned among the cities of Benjamin, Josh. 18, 22." (Lange.) It was thus the old section of the city, the fortress part, against which the expedition was directed. V. 24. And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, after they had vainly sought a suitable place for a successful assault, and they said unto him, Show us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, some way of entering it unawares, and we will show thee mercy, spare him and his family as a reward for this assistance. V. 25. And when he showed them the entrance into the city,

apparently some hidden passage, thus making it unnecessary to storm the city, they smote the city, all the inhabitants, with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family; he, like Rahab, saved the life of his entire family by his service to the army of the Lord. V. 26. And the man went into the land of the Hittites, very likely in the mountains of the north or in Phenicia, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz; which is the name thereof unto this day. V. 27. Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and her towns, on the border of the Jordan Valley, nor Taanach and her towns, farther to the west in the Plain of Esdraelon, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, on the coast of the Mediterranean, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns, these two also being located in the beautiful Plain of Jezreel; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land, accepting the proposals or conditions of the conquerors. V. 28. And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, this being true of all the tribes in general, and did not utterly drive them out. The children of Israel disregarded the command to exterminate the Canaanites, even when they were in a position to carry it out. V. 29. Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer, a town four or five miles east of the present Joppa or Jaffa; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them. V. 30. Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them and became tributaries, while they V. 31. occupied their pastures and meadows. Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho, on the coast of the Mediterranean, north of Carmel, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, the ancient capital of Philistia, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob, all of these in the foothills of the Lebanon or on the Phenician coast; v. 32. but the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out. V. 33. Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh nor the inhabitants of Beth-anath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became tributaries unto them. V. 34. And the Amorites, in the lower part of the Plain of Sharon, along the Mediterranean, forced the children of Dan into the mountain; for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley; v. 35. but the Amorites would dwell in Mount Heres in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, since they were provided

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