land for which they did not labour, and cities which they had not built." The descendants of him who all his life had "dwelt in tabernacles"* as a stranger, had at length become possessors of the country. The promises made to Abraham had been fulfilled. His life-long faith had been justified. The men, who now for the last time surrounded Joshua, remembered these things. Moved, perhaps, by the aspect of their veteran chief, and by the historical associations of the place whereon they stood, they bound themselves anew, in vows thrice repeated,-" The Lord our God will we serve, and His voice will we obey."†

The men of that generation remained faithful to their engagements. In the supplementary paragraph appended to the book of Joshua, it is stated that Israel served the Lord," not only during “all the days of Joshua," but also, "all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua." These men, who had themselves "known all the works of the Lord that he had done for Israel," in bringing them into Canaan and in subduing the hostile nations, never forsook His worship for the worship of the idols of the land, of whose boasted power they had witnessed so signal a discomfiture. The character and admonitions of Joshua were not forgotten. His disinterestedness, his energy, his singleness of purpose, his faith, had left a track of glory behind, as the sun, after he has sunk below the horizon, flings gorgeous hues and

* Heb. xi. 9. Josh. xxiv. 24.

Josh. xxiv. 31.

golden light over all the western sky. The men who had themselves seen the conquests of Joshua would have been doubly inexcusable if they had forsaken the worship of Jehovah. Like the disciple, Thomas, because they had seen they had believed. How indeed could it have been otherwise? How could they, standing there in Shechem,-the site of Abraham's altar, of Jacob's well, of Joseph's tomb, of Joshua's victories, refuse to believe in the Divine calling of the people Israel?

The length of time which elapsed between the death of Joshua and the circumstance related in the first verse of the Book of Judges, has not been precisely ascertained. The Israelites "asked the Lord," apparently as the act of a solemn assembly, which of the tribes should be the first to "go up against the Canaanites, to fight against them."* From this it would appear that the Canaanites had now assumed a threatening attitude. They had in some measure recovered their strength after the blows which had been inflicted on them by Joshua. Their king Adonibezek, under whose table seventy kings,† dishonoured and mutilated, had picked up the falling crumbs, was able to raise a powerful force, and is spoken of as a great public enemy. It seems scarcely credible that

* Jud. i. I.

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Stüder (Buch der Richter, p. 12), suggests that "seventy," like forty" elsewhere, may be a round number. In this way we speak in English of a score," or a thousand." Probably they were not all there together, but at different times.

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such a prince, if in force during the lifetime of Joshua, should not have been attacked by him; and the inference is, that at the time when the Lord is said to have "given rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about," previous to Joshua's death, the power, of Adoni-bezek had not yet become considerable. A short period, however, may have sufficed for the growth of this power. The heathen would take heart as soon as they heard that the mighty captain of the Israelites was no more. It is not improbable that during the years of Joshua's decline, the Canaanites were biding their time and nursing their strength, so as to be able, as soon as the Israelites were deprived of a leader by his death, to burst upon them unawares.

The condition of Israel, on this irruption of the Canaanites, was critical indeed. They had no leader, for Joshua had named no successor; and who would dare to face the enemy without him? In this their earliest trouble they betook themselves to the Lord their God. They did not inquire whether or not they were to go to war. On this point there was no room for doubt or debate. The enemy was at their gates. The man who had led captive seventy kings was close upon them. Fight they must, to preserve themselves from destruction. The question was, who should undertake the work? None were willing to begin uncalled; therefore "the children of Israel,”—all their tribes, assembled by their representatives,—“ asked

* Josh. xxiii. I.

the Lord, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them ?” *

An answer was returned which could not be mistaken. "Phinehas prophesied "-so Josephus explains the circumstance-"that they should commit the government to the tribe of Judah." † The Divine will, he says, was intimated to the high-priest, through the Urim and Thummim. By whatever means conveyed to the chiefs, the command of Israel was clear and decisive; and it was accompanied with a promise of success: "Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand." +

May we not pause here for a moment to allow this oracular response to sink into the heart? How full it is in its manifold meaning! It asserts the sovereignty of God in disposing and ordering the work which His servants have to perform. It reminds us that every one is not to attempt everything; for Judah is to fight the enemy, and the other tribes are to remain. at home. It promises victory, not to every ardent soldier who might volunteer to take the field, but to the tribe whom the Lord shall order to the battle. It disturbs all rule-of-three calculations of success in proportion to the number of agents men may induce to go to work; success is for those whom the Lord shall send. It allows of no objection, no plea of incompetency, no deceitful humility, on the part of the called soldier: Judah shall go up; it is the word

*Jud. i. I. Antiquities, book v. chap. 2.

Jud. i. 2.

of a king. It hides pride from man, by declaring that although Judah would conquer, it would be only through Divine ordination and help.

The men of Judah therefore went up to meet the enemy. But they did not go alone. The inheritance of the tribe of Simeon lay within that of the tribe of Judah, or rather formed a part of it; and the two tribes agreed to assist each other. The fierce and wild sons of Simeon would prove valuable auxiliaries to the more disciplined bands of Judah, and they marched together in pursuit of the Canaanites. It was not for the defence of their own particular territory that they were now taking the sword, but in the common cause of Israel. A great public enemy, a conqueror of seventy kings, had arisen, and he must be attacked and subdued in order to secure the general safety.

We have few details of the march, or of the battle, beyond the brief statement that "the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand." + They fell in with the enemy in Bezek. In a decisive encounter at that place, the locality of which is uncertain, ten thousand were slain; and Adoni-bezek (lord of Bezek) himself was captured after a vain attempt to escape by flight. It appears that this heathen chief had not been a stranger to the name and power of the God of Israel; nor did he complain of his punishment as unjust. When his toes and his

* Josh. xix, 9.

Jud. i. 4-7.