camp of Israel (Numb. ii. 3, 9). Thus Rahab became the ancestor, not only of the upright Boaz,* but also of the LORD JESUS CHRIST Himself according to the flesh.

It is remarkable that all the female names that appear in the genealogy of our LORD represent those who are either strangers, sinners, or sorrowers. Tamar is a widow and a forgotten woman; Ruth also a widow and a Moabitess; Bathsheba is an adulteress and the widow of a Hittite; and among them appears Rahab the harlot, of the accursed seed of Canaan. In this incorporation of these women in the holy line of the MESSIAH, we may see in the Old Testament an anticipation of one of the sweetest revelations of the New, namely, that God loves and welcomes the afflicted and the vile who seek His face. The enemies of JESUs declared the most glorious of His attributes when in their scorn they said, "This man receiveth sinners." It was to the weary and to the heavy laden that He said, "Come unto Me." The outcasts and the sorrowful gathered weeping to His feet, and were not repelled. Already is this grace announced in the story of Rahab and her family, and of their reception into the family of God.

It is sometimes asked how it was that Rahab, a Canaanitish woman, and Ruth, a Moabitess, could be thus received into affinity with Israel. But the veto

Probably she was not literally his mother, for, although at first sight she appears to be so described in the genealogies, there is reason to think that at this point some of the links of descent are omitted.

against mixed marriages, in their case, had no application. Each had avowed her faith in Israel's GOD, and had dedicated her life to the interests of Gon's people. It is against consorting with idolaters as such that the prohibition was directed. He is not a Jew which is one outwardly alone; nor, on the other hand, is she a heathen who, although of Gentile blood, is by faith a daughter of Abraham. None can ever say, I am disqualified from acceptance. Let Rahab's story silence every doubt and overpower every discouragement. "He that confesseth his sins and forsaketh them shall find mercy."

Let us close this study by wondering at the sovereign grace of GOD that could select such a one, from such a quarter, to make her the honoured instrument of the deliverance, first of His servants, Joshua's spies; and then of the parents that gave her birth, and of all her kindred; that promoted her to high estate in Israel; and that has made her memory fruitful in instruction to this day. Rahab is now among the redeemed above. Oh, that she may not in the judgmentday condemn us as having enjoyed a fuller light, and yet without her faith! GOD bless us likewise, and accept us, and make us, as she was, a blessing to those around us. He is able, for "He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; that He may set him with princes, even with the princes of His people" (Ps. cxiii. 7, 8).

LECTURE IV.

THE ENTRANCE OF THE LORD'S HOST INTO CANAAN; OR, THE PASSAGE ACROSS THE JORDAN.

"And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Esraclites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan."

CHAPTER III. 17.

HE spies returned to Joshua with a good report, that had the ring of that true metal of which Joshua himself and Caleb had, thirty-eight years before, shewn themselves, alone of Moses' twelve spies, to be

cast. "Truly," said they, "the LORD hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do melt (margin) because of us.' Their words were a quotation of Rahab's to them (ii. 11), as her words were an unconscious echo of the language of the prophetic song of Moses and the children of Israel upon the Red Sea shore (Exod. xv. 14, 15).

E

Their mission we suppose to have taken place immediately after Joshua's appointment as Moses' successor, and probably before Moses' own death. Their testimony sheds a gleam of gladness amid the sorrow of the days of mourning for the departed lawgiver. Already, hope, like a rainbow, seems to span the horizon, amid the rain-drops of a nation's tears. Already, the gloom of the wilderness sojourn seems to grow bright, in the near prospect of the possession of the land flowing with milk and honey.

The days of mourning at length over," Joshua," with his wonted promptness and activity (vi. 12; vii. 16; viii. 10), "rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel." It is while they lodge here, with the river full in view, that Joshua receives the Divine order, "Arise, go over this Jordan,† thou and all this

*It will be seen that the first verse of the third chapter is regarded as a continuation of the narrative at the point when it is left at the eighth verse of the thirty-fourth chapter of Deuteronomy.

† Were the Israelites still at Shittim, at a day's march distant from the river, the words "this Jordan" would seem less appropriate. (See i. 11; iv. 22). The same phrase is used Gen. xxxii. 10. The exact sites of Mahanaim and Penuel, the points between which Jacob's journey lay, have not been ascertained, but they cannot have been far east of Jordan, for neither Gideon's nor David's host were capable of a long march when they reached these places after crossing the Jordan (Judg. viii. 4, 8; 2 Sam. xvii. 22, 24).

people," together with the words of exhortation and promise that are recorded in the first chapter.

Upon receiving the LORD's order to march, Joshua commissions the scribes to bid the people prepare themselves victuals, declaring that ere three days shall have past, the passage through the Jordan shall be effected. It has, with temerity, been said that Joshua miscalculated the time, when he prophesied that "within three days" the host of Israel should pass the river: but there is neither miscalculation nor mistake, either in Joshua, or in the book that records his inspired utterance. The error is with those who have assumed that the rhetorical order of narration must, necessarily, be the precise chronological order of events. The fact is, the "three days" of the first chapter (i. 11) fall within the "three days" of the third chapter (iii. 2). The statements harmonise; the prediction was fulfilled to the letter, as we shall see in the history of the third and fourth chapters.

The short time of waiting and of preparation is passed. Three days have elapsed from the time of their arrival at the vicinity of the river. Again the scribes are sent out to communicate to the people the order of the march. The priests bearing the ark are to go first, and then the people are confidently to follow. A space of two thousand cubits,*—namely, about three-quarters of a mile—is to intervene for there must be no familiar approach to the august symbol of the presence of GOD. A reverent dis*A cubit was, as is estimated, 1.824 feet.