doubtless, somewhere in the gorges of Pisgah *]; but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. And Moses was 120 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." (Deut. xxxiv. 4-8.) “Here we leave him. But we quit with reluctance the man whose career and character, as connected with, and developed in, a large and important part of Scripture, have engaged so much of our attention. As the mind tries, however,

to rest upon the prominent points of the character which his career evinces, we find ourselves unexpectedly baffled. All the great men of sacred as well as of profane history possessed some prominent virtue or quality, which stood out in bolder relief than their other excellences. We think of the faith of Abraham, of the conscientiousness of Joseph, of the contrition of David, of the generosity of Jonathan, of the zeal of Elijah; but what do we regard as the dominant quality of Moses? It is not to be found. The mind is perplexed in the attempt to fix on any. It is not firmness, it is not perseverance, it is not disinterestedness, it is not patriotism, it is not confidence in God, it is not meekness, it is not humility, it is not forgetfulness of self, that forms his distinguishing characteristic. It is not any ONE of these. It is ALL of them. His virtues, his graces, were all equal to each other; and it was their beautifully harmonious operation and development which constituted his noble, and all but perfect, character. This was the greatness of Moses, this was the glory of his character. It is a kind of character rare in any man; and in no man, historically known, has it been so completely manifested. The exigencies of even those great affairs, which engaged his thought, did not, and could not, call forth on any one occasion all the high qualities with which he was gifted. It is rarely possible to see more than one high endowment in action at the same time. But we find Moses equal to every occasion; he is never lacking in the virtue which the occasion requires him to exercise; and by this we know that he possessed them all. When we reflect that Moses possessed all the learning of his age, and that he wanted none of the talents which constitute human greatness, knowing, as we do, that such endowments are not invariably accompanied by high character and noble sentiments, -we honour his humility more than his glory, and, above all, we

* Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, ch. vii.

The author had previously referred to the sin of Moses" which led to his exclusion from Canaan.

venerate that Divine wisdom which raised up this extraordinary man, and called him forth at the moment when the world had need of him."*

ELEMENTARY AND GENERAL QUESTIONS.

437. When did the Israelites arrive a second time at Kadesh Barnea? 438. When and where did Miriam die?

439. Relate the history of Moses' smiting the rock at Kadesh,

440. What name was given to this place, in memorial of the people's murmuring?

441. What route did the Israelites take from Kadesh, and why? 442. Where did Aaron die? Who was his successor?

443. Give the history of the plague of fiery serpents, and the appointed method of healing.

444. Explain the symbolical and typical meaning of the Brazen Serpent.

445. Where did the Israelites encamp after having passed through the country of the Moabites?

446. How did they obtain a passage through the territory of the Amorites?

447. Where did they fight a battle which opened to them the land of Bashan?

448. Where was the last encampment of the Israelites on the east of Jordan?

449. Relate the history of Balak and Balaam. Repeat Balaam's prophecy of Christ, Num. xxiv. 7.

450. How did the Israelites suffer Balaam to do them harm? And how was their wickedness punished?

451. What was the result of the census taken in the plains of Moab? 452. Which of the tribes of Israel obtained a settlement east of Jordan, and on what conditions?

453. Relate the circumstances attending the death of Moses.

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS.

454. Describe the character of Aaron.

455. What do we read concerning Og, King of Bashan? Refer to some accounts of metal bedsteads in ancient history.

456. Why was the district on the south-east of Jordan denominated "the plains of Moab" at the time of the Israelites' encampment there? 457. What appears to have been the character of Balaam?

458. Describe the prospect which lay before and around Moses when

he was on the top of Pisgah.

459. State your view of the character of Moses.

460. Give the date of the death of Moses.

*KITTO, Daily Bible Illustrations, vol. ii. pp. 240, 242.

CHAPTER XXV.

INVASION OF CANAAN.-DEATH OF JOSHUA.

(Josh. i.-xxiv.)

JOSHUA had already been appointed to succeed Moses as the leader of the Israelites, and in the administration of the theocratical government. He was now (B. C. 1451) confirmed in this office, and was commanded to lead the people into the promised land, with the assurance of Divine support to give success to faithful and courageous conduct; herein becoming a type of Christ, the true "salvation of the Lord," whose office it is to conduct his faithful people to the possession of their heavenly inheritance, the land of everlasting rest.

As a preliminary step, Joshua sent two spies secretly from Shittim to Jericho, a fortified city on the other side of the Jordant, which formed the key to the whole country. By some means, the presence of these men had become known to the inhabitants of that place, and search was made for them, from which they escaped only by the address of a woman named Rahab §, at

*Shittim (the Acacias), or Abel-shittim (the Acacia Meadow, Num. Xxxiii. 49.), the last place at which the Israelites encamped before they removed to the Jordan, was in the plains of Moab, at the foot of the mountainous range Abarim, and immediately under Nebo, opposite to Jericho. Hence it is to be looked for near the point at which the Wady Heshban enters the plains of Moab; probably to the south of this wady. See Keil on Joshua, ii. 1.

This river was so called, according to Gesenius, from jered, to descend, and so the descender, the river that flows down. Its fall is considerable. The word, in Scripture, has the article always (except twice), the Jordan.

We find mention of Jericho and its neighbouring palm-grove, in Strabo, xvi. 2.; Diodor. Sic. ii. 48. Tacitus, in his description of Judea, makes special mention of Lebanon and the Jordan, Hist. v. 6.; and Justin. xxx. 3., speaks of the valley of the Jordan, and its trees of opobalsamum. For a description of Jericho see Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, ch. vii.

§"Though Rahab's subsequent conversation with the spies (v. 9.) proves that she was both convinced of the omnipotence of Jehovah, and of the reality of the miracles He had performed for His people, and also that she firmly believed that this God was about to give them the land of Canaan, and that therefore all opposition to Israel would be futile, being in fact resistance to the Almighty God himself; yet this is no justification of her falsehood, which still remains nothing but a sinful expedient, by which she thought it necessary to contribute her part toward the accomplishment

M

whose house they lodged; who first concealed them under some stalks of flax, which had been spread out to dry on the flat roof of her house, and afterwards let them down through a window, so that they were immediately outside the town-wall against which her house was built. From her they learnt that, on the approach of the Israelites, the people of Canaan had been smitten with a panic, arising from the intelligence which they had received of the manifestation of Divine power in their favour. On receipt of this report, Joshua immediately led the people to the brink of the Jordan, and appointed a time for the passage of the river. But it was now about the period of the vernal equinox, the time of barley-harvest; and the river was swollen with its annual flood, arising from the melting of the snow, which carried it periodically over its banks of the lower or innermost channel, so as to fill up a higher or wider channel, enclosed with steep banks on either side. The passage was therefore impracticable by any means at the command of the Israelites themselves; but Joshua prepared them to expect that it should be effected by the power of the Almighty. He commanded the priests to take up the ark, and carry it in front of the host; and no sooner had the soles of their feet touched the edge of the river, than the waters which came down from above were stayed in their course and made to stand in a heap, while those from below flowed away in their usual course to the Dead Sea, and left a large space of dry ground for the passage of the Israelites. The ark was set down in the dry channel, and remained there until all the people had passed over; and on this spot twelve stones were set up as a monument of the event, while twelve other large stones, taken from the same place, were set up by Divine command in Gilgal, on the east of Jericho, where the Israelites made their first encampment in Canaan. The administration of Joshua was thus inaugurated by a heaven wrought miracle, similar to that which had introduced the leadership of Moses at the Red Sea. And it has been observed that "that which Moses accomplished with his staff, through the word of the Lord, was here performed by the ark of the covenant, which had been appointed at the establishment of the theocracy as the regular symbol of the gracious

of the decrees of God, and the safety of herself and family. The lie which Rahab told is a sin, notwithstanding that the feelings which dictated it had their root in faith in the true God (Heb. xi. 31.); and the help she rendered from these motives to the spies, and therefore to the cause of the Lord, was accounted to her for righteousness (James ii. 25.), and her sin was forgiven her as a sin of weakness."-KEIL on Joshua, ii. 2-6.

presence of the Lord. When the ordinary means of grace exist, the goodness and power of God operate through them, and not directly. Israel was to learn this now, and at the same time to receive a striking fulfilment of the assurance which God bad given them, that He would manifest His glory to them out of the ark of the covenant."

* 66

The terror of the Canaanites was augmented by the miraculous passage of the Jordan; but it was not necessary to take immediate advantage of this state of things in order to ensure the success of the divinely conducted enterprise. Gilgal† was fixed upon as the place of head-quarters; and here, by the express command of Jehovah, the Israelites took time for the discharge of some ceremonial duties, as the matter which claimed their first attention. The rite of circumcision, which had been neglected during the wanderings in the wilderness, was now solemnly renewed; and the Passover, which had not been kept since the Israelites quitted Sinai, was celebrated on the fourteenth day of the month, at even. On the following day the people ate unleavened cakes made of the produce of the land upon which they had now set foot; and then the supply of manna, being no longer needed, ceased.§

The time for the commencement of active operations against the Canaanites was now drawing near. "And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho -probably on some day when he was taking a survey of the place, "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

* Keil on Joshua, iii. 7—17

† I. e. a rolling away; because the Lord said unto Joshua, "This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you," i. e. the reproach cast upon the Israelites by the Egyptians, who said that God had brought them out into the wilderness in order to destroy them.

Or, rather, discontinued, suspended, in token of the Divine displeasure, and the temporary rejection of the people. The Israelites now entered once more into covenant with the Lord, by the renewal of circumcision, and the celebration of the Passover. See Keil on Joshua, v. 4-6.

§ "This discontinuance of the supply by which the people had been so long sustained, no less marks the signal providence of God, than the original grant of it, and its long continuance. It came not one day before it was needed; and it was continued not one day longer than was really required by the wants of the people. This strikingly showed the Lord's care, and evinced the miraculous nature of the supply. Such indications as this of the Lord's presence and power were little less than visible manifestations of Deity."-KITTO, Daily Bible Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 261. || As he had before appeared to Balaam, Num. xxii. 23. 31.