Chapter LXXXVE.

THE SIN OF ISRAEL IN THE LAND OF THEIR INHERITANCE, AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF

THEIR SIN.

WHEN Joshua had conquered all the land of Canaan, and had divided it for a possession among the twelve tribes of Israel, he had not driven out nor destroyed all the inhabitants of the land. Some had been allowed to remain in the portion of every tribe, because the children of Israel were not then enough in number to inhabit the whole. But they were strictly commanded by God not to live among these people, nor make marriages with them, nor have any dealings with them. And God had said, that when the children of each tribe should have increased and multiplied, they should then drive forth or destroy the Canaanites that remained among them, and divide the land in which they dwelt among their own people: for the Lord had given it to them.

Not long after the death of Joshua, when the number of the children of Israel had increased, they prepared to destroy these Canaanites. Then they sent to the tabernacle of the Lord at Shiloh, to Phinehas, the high priest, the son of Eleazar, and inquired of the Lord, saying, "Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?" And the Lord said, "Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand."

Then the tribe of Judah said to the tribe of Simeon, "Come up with us into our lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and we likewise will go with you into your lot." So the tribe of Simeon went forth with the tribe of Judah against the Canaanites, and the Lord delivered them into their hand; and they slew ten thousand men in Bezek; and afterwards they went against the Canaanites that dwelt in the mountains in their portion of the land. And they fought against Jerusalem, and took the city that was at the foot of the mountain, but they could not take the part of the city that was on the

top of the mountain; and the Jebusites continued to dwell there.1

Then the tribe of Judah went with the tribe of Simeon against the Canaanites that dwelt within their lot; and they took the cities in which they dwelt, and destroyed them. And the tribe of Ephraim went against the city of Bethel, where the Canaanites remained, and took the city, and destroyed those who dwelt there.

But the tribe of Judah did not drive out all the Canaanites that dwelt among them. There were some who had chariots of iron, and the men of Judah feared to go against them. Neither did the other tribes drive out or destroy all the Canaanites that remained in their lots. But when the children of Israel were strong and able to subdue them, instead of destroying them as God had commanded, they "put them to tribute;" they made them pay to them a portion of their goods and of the fruits of their land, and allowed them to remain among them.

Thus the children of Israel sinned against the

Judges i. 8. 21. 2 Sam. v. 6, 7.

Lord, by refusing to obey His word. They broke the covenant of the Lord their God, and therefore forfeited the rest and peace which He had promised to them.

Then the Lord sent an angel to rebuke His people for their sin, and to declare their punishment. He said, that now He would not drive out from before them the Canaanites that still dwelt in their land, but would cause them to remain to be thorns in their sides, and a snare to them because they had not obeyed His word.

The remnant of the Canaanites were now to remain in their land, and be a cause of trouble and sorrow to the children of Israel, and a temptation to sin. When they might have obeyed the word of God, and have driven forth the wicked from among them, they would not; and now they could not. From indolence and love of ease, or fear and want of faith, they had shrunk from the struggle with the enemies of God, and had made peace with them, when they should have utterly destroyed them. They sought rest and quietness in the way of disobedience, but they found fear and

sorrow and continual trouble. For the way of God's commandments is the only way to peace and joy, and "there is no peace, saith the Lord, to the wicked.'

991

When the children of Israel heard the words which the angel of the Lord had spoken, they lifted up their voice and wept. They wept when they thought of the punishment of their sin, and the evil which they had brought upon themselves. They wept, but they did not repent; for they did not turn from their evil way to serve the Lord their God with a faithful heart; neither did they teach their children to fear the Lord, and obey His voice.

This sinful disobedience of the children of Israel, like the sin of Adam in the garden of Eden, was the cause of many evils, the beginning of many other sins. The Canaanites remained in their land, and after a time Israel forgot the words of the Lord their God, and dwelt among these sinners, and took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their idol-gods. Thus they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the

1 Isa. lvii. 21.