Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. And he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. And there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face.

[Moses was in many ways a man of very great ability. He brought the Israelites up out of Egypt and led them through an almost inaccessible desert to the borders of the Promised Land; he gave them a code of social and civil laws and organized them into a nation; and lastly he instituted a new religion, which should keep them separate from the heathen and preserve the worship of the true God pure and undefiled.]

ᏢᎪᎡᎢ Ꮩ

THE CONQUEST OF, AND SETTLEMENT IN,

CANAAN

Joshua's Appointment as Moses' Successor is confirmed. Joshua 1. The Trans-Jordanic Tribes promise to assist their Brethren. Now it came to pass after the death of Moses, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister 1, saying, 'Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them. From the wilderness, and this Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage.' Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, 'Pass through the midst of the camp, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye are to pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the LORD your God giveth you.'

And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, spake Joshua, saying, 'Remember the word which Moses commanded you, saying, Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle shall abide in the land which Moses gave you beyond Jordan; but ye shall pass over before your brethren armed, and shall help them; until the LORD hath given your brethren rest, as he hath given you: then ye shall return unto the land of your possession, and possess it.' And they answered Joshua, saying, 'All that thou hast commanded us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us we will go. According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee. Whosoever he be that shall rebel against thy commandment, he shall be put to death.'

1 minister

== servant.

2 the great sea, i. e. the Mediterranean.

Joshua 2.

2

Joshua sends two Spies to view Jericho. They are protected by Rahab. And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men as spies secretly, saying, 'Go view the land, and Jericho.' And they went, and came into the house of an harlot1 whose name was Rahab, and lay there. And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, 'Behold, there came men in hither to-night of the children of Israel to search out the land.' And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, 'Bring forth the men that are come to thee, for they be come to search out the land.' And the woman took the two men, and hid them; and she said, 'Yea, the men came unto me, but I wist not whence they were: and it came to pass about the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out; whither the men went I wot not pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them.' But she had brought them up to the roof, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof. And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate. And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof; and she said unto the men, 'I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have dealt kindly with you, that ye also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a true token and that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have.' And the men said unto her, 'When the LORD giveth us the land, we will deal kindly and truly with thee.' And she said unto them, 'Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers light upon you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way.' And the men said unto her, 'Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt gather unto thee into the house thy father, and thy mother,

1 house of an harlot. Rahab probably kept a lodging-house for travellers.

2 king of Jericho. Each town had a king of its own, and formed an independent kingdom. Only on two occasions do we read that some of the towns formed a coalition to oppose Joshua. (See pages 89 and 91.)

And she

and thy brethren, and all thy father's household.'
said, 'According unto your words, so be it.' Then she let them
down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the
town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. And she sent them
away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the
window. And they went, and came unto the mountain, and
abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned.
Then the two men returned, and descended from the mountain,
and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun; and they
told him all that had befallen them. And they said unto
Joshua, 'Truly the LORD hath delivered into our hands all the
land; and moreover all the inhabitants of the land do melt
away before us.'

The Israelites cross the Jordan. And Joshua rose up Joshua 3, 4. early in the morning, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and they lodged there before they passed over. And the priests took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people. And it came to pass when the people removed from their tents to pass over Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (for Jordan overfloweth all its banks all the time of harvest), that the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up in one heap, a great way off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan: and those that went down toward the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off and the people passed over right against Jericho. And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, until all the nation were passed over Jordan. And the children of Israel took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, according to the number of the tribes; and they carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged in Gilgal, and laid them down there. Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood. And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, 'When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over: that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty; that they

And

Joshua 5,6.

may fear the LORD your God for ever.' And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD were come up out of the midst of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place. And when all the kings of the Amorites, which were beyond Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard how that the LORD had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more.

[While the Israelites lay encamped at Gilgal, all those who had been born in the wilderness were circumcised; the Passover was also kept, and 'manna ceased, after the people had eaten of the corn of the land'.]

The Captain of the LORD'S Host appears unto Joshua. Jericho is taken. And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man1 over against him with his sword drawn in his hand and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, 'Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?' And he said, “Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come.' And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, 'What saith my lord unto his servant?' And the captain of the LORD's host said unto Joshua, 'Put off thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy.' And Joshua did so. (Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.) And the LORD said unto Joshua, 'See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour.'

[God then gave instructions to Joshua how the city was to be taken, and Joshua proceeded to carry them out.]

And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. And the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; and the rearward came after the ark of the LORD, the priests blowing with the trumpets as they went. And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned

1 a man. Evidently a visible manifestation of Jehovah himself.