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Fourthly, "And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, und 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." Revelations xix. 11,13,15, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. And he was clothed in a vesture dipped in blood and his name is called, The WORD OF GOD. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." Exodus xxiii. 20, "Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared."

Fifthly, That Joshua may be at no loss respecting the character before whom he stood, the Captain of the LORD's host said unto him, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place where thou standest is holy." Exodus iii. 5, "And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place where thou standest is holy ground." 2 Peter, i. 18, “And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount."

REMARKS.

First, After they began to eat of the fruits of the earth, there was no more manna! The food of angels must not be mixed with the food of mortals. Secondly, Our Saviour assumes his proper character, when he appears as Captain of salvation; and that this horseman could be none other than the LORD Jesus, is abundantly manifest from the following considerations.-First, Captain of the LORD's host, is an appellation by which God is known. Isaiah xiii. 4, "The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the king. doms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle." Secondly, Joshua calleth him LORD or Jehovah, a name which Joshua would not have given nor he accepted, had he been nothing more than a messenger of the Most High. Thirdly, Joshua fell down and worshipped him, which he durst

133 not have done, since he knew that God, and God only was the proper object of worship. Revelations xxii. 9, "Then said he unto him, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book; worship God." Fourthly, The direction to Joshua to take off his shoes, which direction was only given to those in the divine presence. Fifthly, As God appeared unto Moses when he sent him to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt or bondage, so he manifests himself to Joshua, when he is on the point of bringing them into the promised land. Thus he is the first and the last; the Alpha and Omega.

SKETCH XXXIX.

JOSHUA Vi. 1—16.

First, JERICHO was straitly shut up, because of the children of

Israel: none went out, and none came in.

Secondly, And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho. This is the same God to whom we have done homage, in the thirteenth verse of the foregoing chapter. God hath a right to dispose of kings and kingdoms. The prophet Daniel ii. 20, 21, devoutly saith, "Blessed be the name of God And he forever and ever: for wisdom and might are his. changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings,and sitteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding."

Thirdly, That it might be made manifest to the whole earth, that the conquest of Canaan was to be ascribed solely to the omnipotent power of God, Joshua is instructed to besiege this first walled city, Jericho, and the operations of the siege are apparently most inadequate to the desired purpose. They were to go round about the city once every day for six successive days, and seven priests were to bear the ark of the LORD, blowing with seven trumpets of ram's horns, when, at an appointed time, the walls of the city were to fall flat down. This was a repetition of the miracle wrought at the river Jordan, by instruments the most contemptible. 2 Corinthians iv. 7, "We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God,

and not of us." Corinthians i. 25, "Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men." Thus the priests were only to precede the ark of the LORD, blowing with ram's horns.

Fourthly, And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horns, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him. 2 Kings v. 10, "And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shalt come again unto thee, and thou shalt be clean." By faith, says the Apostle Paul, Hebrews xii. 30, « By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days." But this faith must have been the faith of Joshua, since it was to him only the promises were made.

Fifthly, The seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of ram's horns, passed on before the LORD, and blew with the trumpets, and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them.

Sixthly, And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people Shout: for the LORD hath given you the city.

REMARKS.

Verily, Joshua was an eminent type of the Redeemer, and hence it is worthy of observation-First, That all things were given into his hands. Secondly, That all things were given into his hands for the people. And thirdly, A striking idea presses upon the mind taught of God. Through this whole transaction, the priests uttered not a syllable; they only blew with the ram's horns. The ram was caught in the thicket by his horns, Genesis xxii. 13. The horns are the emblems of power; even the breath of these was sufficient to destroy the strong walls of Jericho. But, upon this occasion, we should, I had almost said, be impious, were we to stop short of the figure; the substance of this figure is exhib ited 2Thessalonians, ii. 8, "And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the LORD shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and destroy with the brightness of his coming." Isaiah xi. 4, "And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked." Fourthly, Upon the

performance of the promise, the people shouted. Psalm xlvii. 1,

"O clap your hands, all ye people, shout unto God with the voice of triumph." Isaiah xlii. 11, "Let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains." Shout ye lower parts of the earth, break forth into singing. Shout, O Israel, be glad with all the heart. Zephaniah iii. 14, "Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem." Ezra iii. 2, "When they praised the LORD, then they shouted." Zechariah iv. 6, 7, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. And he shall bring forth the head stone thereof with shoutings, crying Grace, Grace unto it."

SKETCH XL.

JOSHUA Vi. 17—27.

AND the city shall be accursed.

First, What are we to understand by this curse? The next verse informs us. "And you, in any wise, keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it." Jericho was devoted, the treasures consecrated to the LORD and the city to destruction. On this subject we have frequently reflected, but not daring to hazard a conjecture of our own, agreeably to our usual custom, we turn to the law and to the testimony. To curse, signifies to call down mischief upon, or to wish evil to persons or things. Curses are denounced by the following characters :-First, By God himself. Secondly, By his servants. And thirdly, By the servants of the devil. Curses are denounced upon persons, places, and things. We first hear of cursing in Genesis iii. 14, "And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this thou art cursed." Again, in Genesis iv. 11, "And now art thou cursed from the earth." Again, Genesis ix. 25, "And Noah said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be." These are the curses of the law; and the fulness of these curses are collected, complicated, and concentrated, Deuteronomy twenty-eighth, "But there is a curse of the law, which leadeth unto another

death, even to the death of the soul." Ezekiel xviii. 4, “Behold all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die." This is the greatest malediction which is denounced by the law of God; but this malediction cannot fall upon any mere man among the children of men, and the reason is given Romans v. 6, “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." Again, 2 Corinthians v. 14, 15, "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead. And that he died for all, that they who live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them, and rose again." Hebrews ii. 9, "We see Jesus crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” But, in one word, whatever curse is denounced by the law of God must have an end; for in Revelations xxii. 2, 3, "We hear one of the seven angels declare, There shall be no more curse."

The curse denounced upon Jericho was of a three fold nature. It was denounced upon the people, upon their property, and upon their city. The people, all but the family of Rahab, were condemned to death. The property was appropriated to the LORD of the whole earth, and the city was devoted to the flames.

Secondly, It is observable, that a curse was denounced on the person who should have the temerity to rebuild the city Jericho ; and this curse was executed in its fulness. 1 Kings xvi. 34, "In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho; he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his first born, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun." And here the matter ended.

REMARKS.

First, In handling the word of the LORD, the utmost caution is requisite. Secondly, The scribe instructed in the kingdom of God, will rightly divide the word of truth. Thirdly, In the midst of wrath God remembers mercy, as is manifest in the deliverance of Rahab and her family. Fourthly, God can be a just God and a Saviour. Mercy and truth may meet together. Righteousness and peace may embrace each other. Fifthly, We are redeemed from the law, in consequence of Jesus being

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