41. B.C. 1451

B.C. 1451

Chapter I

1. After the death of their great lawgiver, the Israelites remained encamped on the “plains of Moab,” awaiting the order to advance to the arduous enterprise of dispossessing nations greater, mightier, and better armed and disciplined than themselves; more experienced in the art of war, and dwelling in fortified towns, with all the resources of the country at their command. So disproportionate seemed the situation of the invaders and the invaded, as to natural and acquired advantages, that the former, if they had looked to them only, might have been excused for regarding the result with some anxiety and apprehension. Certainly the Canaanites, regarded as a settled and valiant people, assailed by a comparatively undisciplined horde from the desert, may very well be spared the pity which some perverse understandings bestow upon them, as if they were so many sheep awaiting slaughter at the hands of the Israelites. The disproportion was indeed so much to the disadvantage of the Hebrews, that, to render the balance somewhat more equal, the Lord saw fit that the operations should commence by a series of special and signal acts of his own providence, to encourage the chosen people, and to dismay their enemies. Indeed the marvels which had attended their deliverance from Egypt, and their progress through the wilderness, were well known to the Canaanites, and had inspired them with dread—not of the Israelites themselves, whom they probably despised as enemies—but of the God, the mighty and terrible God, who fought on their behalf.

2. In the plain on the other side of the river stood the city of Jericho, which must evidently be the first object of attack after the passage of the river. Joshua, therefore, sent spies to that place to collect information, and to ascertain the sentiments of the people. The spies were lodged by a woman named Rahab, who also concealed them when they were inquired for by the authorities of the place; and from her they received the encouraging information that the Canaanites were already dispirited—“Your terror is fallen upon us,” she said, “and all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you…. As soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt; neither did there remain any more courage in any man because of you; for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.” It was, in fact, thus to glorify his own great name, by forcing the conviction of His pre-eminence in power upon even those who did not serve him, that the Lord had wrought the wonders of which the Israelites were to reap the benefit.

3. The design of the Israelites to establish themselves in Palestine, and to root out the old inhabitants, was perfectly well known to the Canaanites; but they appear to have made no extraordinary preparations to repel the invaders—trusting, probably, to the obstacle which at this time the river Jordan appeared to offer to their further progress; for it was the time of the barley harvest, when the river, swollen with the latter rains and the melted snows, overflowed its banks, and ran with the fullest stream to the Dead Sea. In this calculation they underrated the power of that Almighty arm which they had already learned to dread.

4. At length the order came to pass the river on a given day; and this order was accompanied with a distinct confirmation to Joshua of his high and glorious office, attended with the assurance that, while he adhered to the spirit and principles of the theocracy, none of those who opposed him should be able to stand before him. This appointment was recognized with acclamations by the people, who readily covenanted their obedience: and with them Joshua appears to have been at all times very popular; nor was his administration disturbed by such discontents and seditions as had disgraced the Israelites fn the time of Moses.

5. The day appointed for the passage of the Jordan was the tenth day of the first month, only five days being wanting to complete forty years since the departure of the Hebrews from Egypt. On that day, the ark of the covenant was borne in solemn state by the priests, about one thousand yards before the people on their march to the river’s brink. No sooner had the feet of the priests touched the water, than the course of the river at that point was stayed. The waters above suspended their course, while those below hastened into the Dead Sea, leaving the bed of the river dry for the hosts of Israel to pass over. The priests bearing the ark entered, and stood in the mid-channel, under the wall of waters, until all the hosts of Israel had gone over. Then the priests also left the river’s bed; and no sooner had they reached the bank, than the suspended waters resumed their course. As a standing memorial of this stupendous miracle, twelve large stones from the bed of the river were set up in the plain; and twelve stones from the shore were deposited in the bed of the river.

6. At the place where the stones were set up, namely, at Gilgal in the plain of Jericho, the Israelites formed their first encampment in Canaan. Instead of proceeding to take advantage of the panic with which this event had inspired the inhabitants, as mere human policy would have dictated, by at once marching against them, the Israelites were directed to the observance of the details of that covenant under which they claimed their inheritance. Therefore, in the first place, the rite of circumcision, which had been intermitted during the sojourn in the wilderness, was renewed, and all the persons, forty years old and under, who had been born since the departure from Egypt, were taken into the Abrahamic covenant by being circumcised at Gilgal. They were then in a condition to observe the passover, the time for which had come round; and this was the third celebration of that remarkable ordinance, as it. had been entirely neglected since the second celebration in Sinai. The day after the passover they began to eat the corn, the fruits, and other products of the soil of Canaan; and then the miraculous supply of manna, by which they had been so long fed, altogether ceased. It should be observed that the tabernacle was set up at Gilgal, and that it remained there during the seven years employed in the conquest of Canaan. Gilgal may, therefore, be regarded as the head-quarters of the Israelites throughout that period.

7. When Joshua was ore day surveying the strong defenses of Jericho, a person with a drawn sword in his hand appeared suddenly before him. He announced himself as the “Captain of the Lord’s host,” and commanded Joshua to take the sandals off his feet, because the ground was holy on which he stood, The prostration and worship rendered by the Hebrew chief on this occasion indicates that this was the same mysterious being who had spoken to Moses from the burning bush. His object was to encourage Joshua, by directing his attention to the fact, that the success of the great enterprise before him depended not upon his own skill and valour, or upon the endurance and courage of his forces, but upon the assistance of the Almighty, who had covenanted to bestow the land upon them, and who would ensure the victory to his people in every contest which they undertook with a becoming confidence in their Divine leader. To evince this, in the first instance, means were to be taken in the siege of Jericho which would be wholly inoperative under ordinary circumstances, and which would, therefore, refer the victory solely to that Almighty arm which was made bare to fight for the chosen people. Accordingly, the army was directed to march round the city in solemn state on six successive days, preceded by the ark, before which went seven priests with rams’-horn trumpets in their hands. This seemingly idle parade probably occasioned nothing but wonder to the people of Jericho, whom we may conceive crowding the walls to behold the spectacle. On the seventh day this circumambulation was repeated seven times, and at the completion of the seventh circuit, the priests blew a long blast with their trumpets, and the people raised a tremendous shout. At that instant the strong walls of Jericho fell level with the ground, and free ingress was offered on every side to the Israelites, who, the place having before been put under a ban of devotement to utter ruin, slew every living creature with the sword, excepting only the family of the woman, Rahab, by whom the spies had been entertained. Joshua 6.

8. Not only every living creature in Jericho had been devoted to extinction, but all the effects were to be destroyed, have articles of precious metal, which were to be consecrated to the Lord, and laid up for the service of the Tabernacle. But a man named Achan, of the tribe of Judah, overcome by covetousness, appropriated to his own use, and concealed in his tent, a costly garment of Babylonish work, which should have been destroyed, and an ingot of gold, which should have been consecrated to the Lord. The disgraceful repulse and flight of a party which had been sent to take the neighboring town of Ai, filled Joshua with anxiety and alarm—such a circumstance being likely to impair that confidence of assured success which had thus far encouraged the Israelites and disheartened their enemies. He complained before the Lord, and was answered that the repulse was a punishment for the infraction of the vow of devotement, by the concealment in the camp of some of the spoil of Jericho.

9. On hearing this, the lot was resorted to for the detection of the offender. Achan was taken, and having confessed the crime, was stoned to death, and a tumulus of stones was raised over his body. After this expurgation, Ai was in another attempt easily taken by stratagem, in which one body, by a pretended flight, drew out the defenders in pursuit, on which, another body, which had lain in ambuscade, rushed into the town, and set it on fire. The pretended fugitives then turned upon their pursuers, who, being also attacked in the rear by the other body, and seeing their town in flames, were panic struck, and easily cut in pieces. Twelve thousand, being the whole inhabitants, perished on this occasion; and the king, who was taken prisoner, was put to the sword, and his body hanged on a tree until the evening, when it was taken down, and buried at the gate of the place under a heap of stones. This and many similar acts of the Israelites in their warfare with the Canaanites were undoubtedly severe and cruel; but in those times all wars were carried on with great barbarity, as they still are in the countries of the East; and the conduct of the Hebrew invaders of Palestine was only in accordance with the war-practice of the time and country, and was not more harsh than would have been exercised towards themselves, had they been defeated and the Canaanites victorious. As the Lord was employing the sword of the Israelites for the extermination of a very guilty people, whose iniquities had at this time reached the highest point of aggravation, he did not direct that the invaders of Palestine should introduce any milder usages of war than those which then ordinarily prevailed. Joshua 8.

10. There can be no doubt that the success of the Hebrew armies was much facilitated by the absence of any large or central government, or of any one power strong enough to act in opposition to the invaders. The country was still, as in the time of the Patriarchs, broken up into a vast number of small independent states, which differed even in the form of government,-some being monarchical, and others republican; but the monarchical form was the most prevalent, and every chief over one or more towns, with a few dependent villages and a narrow tract of surrounding country, was dignified with the title of king. Among these kings there were a few who, from their proportionately larger territories, their success in war, or general character, had sufficient influence, on occasions of great and general emergency, to induce a number of the others to confederate with them for the common benefit; but during the entire period of this war of life and death, no such confederacy was ever formed by the Canaanites, as brought all the military resources of the country to bear at one time against the Hebrew host.