The History of the Old Testament Methodized, Chapter 4 · Section 121 – Section 125
SECT. CXXI.
JOſhua now calls an Aſſembly of the Repreſentatives of the Nation to Sechem, in-intending (as it ſeems) there ſolemnly to inter Joſeph's bones, ſee verſ. 32. of this Chapter. And upon this occaſion he removes the Tabernacle and Altar thither, as upon extraordinary Occaſions they ſometimes did, ſee 1 Sam. 4.4. And there the Elders and Heads of the Tribes, their Judges and Officers preſented themſelves before the Lord; that is, before the Tabernacle where God was pleaſed to manifeſt his gracious Preſence among them; Joſhua now ſpeaks unto them, and gives them his ſolemn farewel Exhortations, preſſing them to continue conſtant in their Obedience unto God after his death. He ſets before them God's free Goodneſs in reſcuing their Father Abraham out of that way of Idolatry, wherein he had been bred in his Father Terah's Houſe, when they lived beyond Euphrates, and chuſing him [of his free Grace] to be the Father of his peculiar people, when there was nothing in him to move the Lord to ſhew him ſuch ſpecial favour. He tells them how God led Abraham through the ſeveral quarters of Canaan; and preſerved him in a ſtrange Land among ſo many barbarous people, and bleſſed and proſpered him, and cauſed him to be highly eſteemed among them; And multiplied his Seed, giving him Iſhmael, and ſix Sons by Keturah, but He eſpecially bleſſed him, in giving Him Iſaac, whom He made the Heir of Promiſe: And though Iſaac had two Sons, Eſau and Jacob, yet he paſſed by Eſau (though He made his Poſterity great, and gave them Mount Seir to inhabit,) and eſtabliſhed his Covenant with their Father Jacob, his younger Brother. And Jacob and his Children went down into Egypt, and in proceſs of time being grievouſly there oppreſſed, He delivered them miraculouſly by the Hand of Moſes and Aaron. Then He led them through the Red-Sea, putting Darkneſs between them and the Egyptians that purſued after them with Chariots and Horſe-men, and drowned the Egyptians who ventured to follow them, bringing the Sea upon them. He tells them, That many of them that were under twenty years old when they came out of Egypt, might remember the Wonders He did for them in Egypt, and the Plagues He brought upon the Egptians till they did let them go. They might alſo remember how He ſed them and preſerved them during their long Travels through the Wildneſs; They might remember how He at laſt brought them to the Borders of Canaan, and deſtroyed Sihon and Og, the Kings of the Amorites, on the other ſide Jordan, and gave them their Lands for an Inheritance. When they were come thither, they might remember how Balak King of Moab prepared to make War againſt them, intending to have ſet upon them, if he could have got Balaam to curſe them; but the Lord would not permit him to do it, but forced him contrarily to bleſs them, and ſo they were delivered out of his hands. They might remember how from hence they paſſed over Jordan, and laid ſiege to Jericho, and how the men of Jericho prepared to reſiſt them, ſhutting up their Gates againſt them, though afterwards they had not (as it ſeems) an heart to lift up a Weapon in their own Defence, when they ſaw their Walls ſo miraculouſly to fall down. They might remember how in the ſucceeding War the Lord delivered the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgaſhites, Hivites and Jebuſites into their Hands; And they prevailed not againſt them by their own Sword or Bow, but by the Power of God who ſent the Hornets *See Exod. 23.28. Deut. 7.20. Wiſd. 12.8.among them, great Venemous Flies that ſtung many of them to death, as He had by them before annoyed the Subjects of Sihon and Og, upon which Judgment many of them ('tis like) fled out of the Country. He tells them, The Lord had given them a fruitful Land, whoſe fruitfulneſs they had not procured by their own labour; He had given them Cities †They deſtroyed only Jericho, At, and Hazor, ſee Joſh. 11.14. and reſerved the reſt for themſelves to dwell in.to dwell in which they built not; He had given them Vineyards and Oliveyards which they planted not. By all which great and ſignal Mercies they were ſtrongly engaged to fear the Lord, and to ſerve Him in ſincerity and truth all their days. He adviſes them to forſake and abominate all the Idols which Terah, Nahor, and even Abraham himſelf (before his Calling and Converſion) worſhipped, whilſt they lived beyond Euphrates, in Ʋr of the Chaldees; as alſo the Idols which ſome of their Father… had worſhipped in Egypt. (s)Hinc liquet (quod alibi nuſpiam proditum) etiam Iſraelitas non paucos in Aegypto Idola coluiſſe. Indicat tamen hoc ipſum non obſcure, Ezek. 23.3, 8, 19, 21, 27. Amos 5.25. & Actor. 7.42.'Tis like he feared there were ſtill ſome ſuch ſecret Worſhippers of Idols among them, as it is manifeſt in the Wilderneſs there were, [ſee Amos 5.25, 26. Acts 7.42, 43.] He ſhews them there was ſo vaſt a difference between the true God (that brought them out of Egypt, and had done ſo many and great Wonders for them,) and Idols, that were meer vanity and nothing, that one would ſcarce think it poſſible that they ſhould forſake the Lord to follow them, though it were left to their own choice. He intimates to them, that except they choſe the Lord for their God, and ſerved Him out of judgment and their own choice, V. 15. Eligite] Tenta vita dictum, ut Ruth 1.15. Joh. 6.67.and willingly and freely, without any conſtraint, God would not regard their outward compliance. Well (ſays he) whatever you ſhall determine for your ſelves, and your own practiſe, I do declare to you, That this is my firm Reſolution, That as for me and my houſe we will ſerve the Lord. The Elders of the people hearing theſe things, ſaid, God forbid that ever we ſhould forſake the Lord that brought us and our Fathers out of Egypt, and has done ſuch great things in our ſight, and has hitherto preſerved us, and driven out the Amorites and Canaanites for us; God forbid that ever we ſhould be ſo wicked as to forſake Him, and ſerve Idols. No, the Lord is our God, and Him we are reſolved to ſerve.
Joſhua adviſes them them to conſider well what they ſaid; He tells them, They cannot ſerve the Lord, if they retained Idols in their Houſes, or in their Hearts, and mingled falſe Worſhip with the true. For God (ſays he) is an holy and jealous God, and will no more admit of mixture of true and falſe Worſhip, than a jealous Husband will of a Corrival in his love, or that his Wife ſhould divide her ſelf between him and a ſtranger; I tell you plainly, God will not forgive your Tranſgreſſions, nor your Sins, if you continue in them; and if you turn from Him, and ſerve other gods, He will turn from doing you good, and will ſeverely puniſh and chaſtiſe you. The people anſwered, Nay, but we are firmly reſolved to ſerve the Lord, and Him only; Then Joſhua ſaid, You are …itneſſes againſt your ſelves this day, if you do otherwiſe; For ye have freely choſen the Lord to be your God, and have faithfully promiſed to ſerve Him. They ſaid, We do acknowledge it, and if we do otherwiſe, we are Witneſſes againſt our ſelves, and our own Conſciences will convince and condemn us. Well (ſays he) if ye be willing to renew your Covenant with God this day, then let me in the firſt place ſtrictly charge you, if there be any Idols ſecretly kept, and worſhipped among you, that they be put away preſently, and let them have no place in yours hearts and affections, but incline your hearts faithfully to ſerve the Lord God of Iſrael. The people anſwered, The Lord God will we ſerve, and his Voice alone will we obey. Then Joſhua, as God's Servant and Miniſter, cauſed the people to renew their Covenant with God (and probably it was done in a very ſolemn manner, being accompanied with Sacrifices, and the uſual Rites of that ſacred Service,) and He eſtabliſhed and confirmed it as a ſtanding and perpetual Law for them and their Poſterity, that they ſhould conſtantly continue in the Service of the Lord God alone, as became his peculiar people, and utterly renounce all Idols, and all Idolatry whatſoever. And Joſhua either wrote himſelf, or cauſed ſome of the Prieſts to write in the Book of the Law (which was written by Moſes, and put on the ſide of the Ark,) theſe Promiſes of the people, and the whole carriage of this buſineſs, and how ſolemnly they renewed their Covenant with God, that the people knowing there was ſuch a Record kept of this matter, and the circumſtances thereof in God's Tabernacle, might be the more careful to keep their Covenant. Then Joſhua took a great ſtone, and ſet it up there under an Oak, that was by the Sanctuary of the Lord, as a Memorial of this Covenant now thus ſolemnly renewed between God and this people. Some think this was the very Oak under which Jacob had many years ſince buried all the Idolatrous traſh, which he found among thoſe of his Family, Gen. 35.4. and that Joſhua did purpoſely for that cauſe ſet up this Stone under that Oak; *Hic Abrahamo Deu… apparuiſſe creditur, Gen. 12.6, 7.In future times this place, where this Stone was ſet up, was from hence called the Oak of the Pillar, Judg. 9.6. And Joſhua ſaid, This ſtone ſhall be a witneſs unto you, for it hath heard (t)Hyperbolica Conteſtatio, vide Deut. 4.26.all the words of the Lord; that is, of the Covenant between the Lord and you, and it ſhall ſerve as a Witneſs to convince you of your Sin, if you do not keep your Covenant, ſeeing all men in future Ages will take notice that it was purpoſely erected to be a Monument and Memorial thereof, and this ſtone, when you ſee it, ſhall repreſent to your Minds and Conſciences the Covenant which ye have now made, as if it could both hear and ſpeak; ſo that if in after-times you deny your God, and fall into Idolatry, this very ſtone will witneſs againſt you. See a like expreſſion to this, Jer. 2.12. Theſe things being done, they now ſolemnly interred the bones of Joſeph (which they had brought with them out of Egypt)(u)See Sect. 48. of Chap. 3. in that parcel of ground here at Shechem, that Jacob *Whereas 'tis ſaid Acts 7.15, 16. that the Fathers were laid in the Sepulchre that Abraham bought, &c. the meaning is, which one of the Poſterity of Abraham, viz. Jacob bought of the Sons of Hamor. See Apoſt. Hiſt. on the place.bought of the Sons of Hamor, [ſee Gen. 33.19.] and which He upon his death-bed gave to Joſeph as a ſpecial Legacy, [Gen. 48.22.] and was now within the lot of the Sons of Joſeph. And it ſeems from Acts 7.15, 16. That the bodies of all the reſt of the Patriarchs, the Sons of Jacob, were brought up alſo out of Egypt, and here likewiſe buried. When theſe things were done, Joſhua diſmiſt the people to their own Inheritances.
Shortly after this, the great Joſhua dies, aged an 110, about ten years (as is conceived) after the Conqueſt of the Land. He had approved himſelf a faithful Servant of God all his days, living in his Fear, and dying in his Favour, and was buried in his own Inheritance in Timnath-ſerah (x)Timnathſerah vox imaginem ſolis denotat, quae Joſhua Sepulchro erat impoſita, ob celebris illius ſolſtitii Memoriam, Joſh. 10.13.in Mount Ephraim. Some ſay the Iſraelites placed upon his Monument the Figure of the Sun, as a Memorial of the great Miracles of the Suns ſtanding ſtill at his prayer; And Iſrael ſerved the Lord all the days of Joſhua,*Non autem multo diuitius ut patet ex Jud. 2.8, 9, 10. Hinc patet quantum ſit in unius hominis probitate poſitum qui in republica dominatur. Maſius. and of the Elders that out-lived Joſhua, who had known all the Works of the Lord which he had done for them.
Not long after Eleazar the High Prieſt died alſo, and they buried him in an Hill in Mount Ephraim, which by ſpecial and extraordinary Gift was given to Phineas his Son, with whom 'tis probable his Father lived: For though the Prieſts had their Cities by lot in other Tribes; namely, Judah, Simeon and Benjamin, [ſee Ch. 21.4.] yet that the High Prieſt might be near to Joſhua the Governour, (who dwelt in Mount Ephraim) and that he might enquire of the Lord for him upon any ſpecial occaſion, and that he might be near to the Tabernacle, which at this time was in Shiloh; 'tis like Eleazar (y)Donarunt forſan hunc locum honorarium Eleazaro, ut Joſhuae contiguus habitaret, qui tamen eſt a Filio cognominatus in poſterum, Anonym. in loc.here lived, and was now here buried.
Joſh. Ch. 24. whole Chapter.
SECT. CXXII.
WE are now come to the Book of Judges, The Book of Iudges.which comprehends an Hiſtory of the Common-wealth of Iſrael, from the death of Joſhua to the days of Eli, containing the ſpace of 299 years, during which time they lived under the Government of certain Judges, whom God ſucceſſively and extraordinarily raiſed up, and endowed with a Spirit of Wiſdom and Courage to Rule over them as His Deputies and Vicegerents. There are twelve of theſe mentioned in this Book, viz.
1. Othniel, whoſe Government from the death of Joſhua is reckoned to be 40 years.
2. Ehud 80
3. Deborath 40
4. Gideon 40
5. Abimelech 3
6. Thola 23
7. Jair 22
8. Jephtha 6
9. Ibzan 7
10. Elon 10
11. Abdon 8
12. Sampſon 20
299
Within which ſpace of time we are to comprehend the Six Oppreſſions of the Iſraelites, mentioned in this Book, and not to reckon them apart, but as included within the years of the Judges, and the Reſt of the Land, viz.
Under Cuſhan 8 years.
Eglon 18
Jabin 20
Midian 7
Ammonites 18
Philiſtines 20
To the twelve Judges before-mentioned, Eli and Samuel ſucceeded, whoſe Acts are not here ſet down, but in the Firſt Book of Samuel. Now there being 480 to be reckoned from the coming of the Iſraelites out of Egypt to the building of Solomon's Temple, 1 Kings 6.1. we may compute them thus;
40 years ſpent in the Wilderneſs.
17 in Joſhua's Government.
299 in the times of the twelve Judges.
40 in Eli's time.
40 in Samuel and Saul's.
40 in David's.
4 in Solomon's; in the Fourth Year of whoſe Reign the Foundation of the Temple was laid.
480
As to the Pen-man of this Book of Judges, 'tis very uncertain who it was. But it ſeems to be gathered by ſome Prophet of God out of the Publick Records and Regiſters that were kept of their Affairs. Some think Samuel was the Compiler of it.
SECT. CXXIII.
JOſhua being now dead, and having a little before his death encouraged the people to expel the Canaanites that remained out of the Land, though they had no man at preſent choſen of God, and ſet over them to Command them in chief, as Moſes and Joſhua did; and finding that it was fit for them to go on with the War, they aſſembled together [as it ſeems] at Shiloh to conſult about this matter. And becauſe the ſucceſs of their firſt Attempts would be of great conſequence, either to encourage or diſhearten their Enemies, they thought fit that Phineas the High Prieſt ſhould enquire of the Lord for them by Ʋrim and Thummim, which of their Tribes ſhould firſt begin and ſet upon the Canaanites that ſtill remained among them; and the Lord appointed that the Tribe of Judah [the Royal Tribe, and the ſtrongeſt and moſt populous of them all,] ſhould begin the War, and firſt clear his portion of the Enemy. Caleb the Son of Jephunneh is choſen General for the Tribe, and the Simeonites [who had their lot within theirs] being invited to joyn with them, they readily agreed to it, the Tribe of Judah promiſing to aſſiſt them afterwards in clearing their lot. In this Expedition, they took the City of Bezek, *Bezek a City in the Tribe of Judah, not far from Jeruſalem.and after they had taken it, in the purſuit [when the King thereof, with many of his people, fled to ſave his life,] they killed ten thouſand men. They alſo took their King Adonibezek, and cut off his Thumbs and his great Toes, having [as it ſeems] when they took the City found ſome of thoſe poor Captive Kings that had been thus inhumanely uſed by him, or elſe had heard of the Tyranny he had exerciſed upon them in that kind, and therefore thought fit (according to the Law of Retaliation, Exod. 21.24.) to ſerve him after the ſame manner. Adonibezek could not but acknowledge the juſtice of God upon him herein. For [ſays He] threeſcore and ten Kings (z)Reguli diverſarum urbium. Ante Ninum (teſte Juſtino) quiſ que Rex terminis civitatis ſuae contentus erat. Petty Kings of particular Cities, not that he had ſo many at once under this baſe ſlavery, but in the whole courſe of his life, ſome after others; 'tis like he did it in a baſe ſporting cruelty, or elſe thereby to unfit them for War, unde homines viles & defides, Italis & Gallis Poltroni vocantur, id eſt, pollice trunci.(having their Thumbs and great Toes cut off) gathered their meat under my Table; as I have done to them, ſo God hath requited me. Then the men of Judah carried this great Tyrant, and ſhewed him before Jeruſalem, to ſtrike the greater terrour into the Jebuſites, and there they killed him, and then ſacked and burnt that City, viz. that part of it which was in their Tribe: For though the former King of it had been ſlain in the Field, Joſh. 10. yet was not the City taken, nor it, nor any other City fired in Joſhua's time, but only Jericho, Ai and Hazor, and therefore the eighth verſe ſhould be read, And the Children of Judah warred againſt Jeruſalem, and took it, and ſmote it, &c. not as if it had been taken before.
Judges 1. from 1. to 9.*For theſe Verſes from v. 9. to 16. ſee Sect. 108. becauſe the Author of this Hiſtory was here to relate the memorable Exploits that were done by the men of Judah, therefore together with thoſe noble Acts which they did after the death of Joſhua; He repeats alſo thoſe which were done by them whilſt Joſhua lived, under the command of Caleb, both againſt Hebron and Debir, that He might ſet forth the glory of this Tribe more fully.
SECT. CXXIV.
JEthro's Family call'd Kenites, that had come up with Joſhua and Iſrael into the Land of Canaan, and dwelt in their Tents (which was ever their way of living) about Jericho, the City of Palm-Trees, among the people of the Tribe of Judah; and Judah having now cleared his portion in ſo good a meaſure that they began to ſpread into new Plantations; Theſe Kenites went along with them, and ſetled themſelves with them in the South, upon the Coaſts of the Amalekites, and ſo in Saul's time were mingled among them, ſee 1 Sam. 15.6. Theſe Kenites were the root of the Rechabites, of whom more is ſpoken, Jer. Ch. 35. Judg. Ch. 1. verſ. 16.
SECT. CXXV.
AS Simeon had before aſſiſted Judah in clearing his lot, ſo now Judah aſſiſts Simeon in clearing his. And joyning together, they firſt Conquer Hormah, and utterly deſtroy it, and the reaſon hereof ſeems to be becauſe of the Vow which the Iſraelites had made long ſince, when Arad a King of the Canaanites had made War againſt them, ſee Numb. 21.3. They took alſo Gaza, and Askelon, and Ekron, with their Coaſts, though it ſeems the Philiſtines ſoon recovered theſe three Cities again, and drave out the Iſraelites before they had well ſetled themſelves in them, [ſee Ch. 3.1, 2, 3. 1 Sam. 6.17.] and the reaſon hereof was, becauſe the Iſraelites ſoon provoked the Lord by their Sins. As for Ekron it was in Dan's lot, Joſh. 19.43. Therefore it ſeems the Tribe of Judah joyned with thoſe of Dan as well as with thoſe of Simeon, to help them to clear their Coaſts. The Lord being thus with Judah, they drave out the Canaanites that dwelt in the mountainous Country, but their own fears diſabling them, and God for their ſins withdrawing his help from them, they could not drive, them out of the Vallies and Plains, not daring (it ſeems) to ſet upon them becauſe of their Iron-Chariots, of which ſee Joſh. 17.16. Whereas this was no juſt cauſe to deter them, ſeeing they had God's Promiſe of Victory. It was therefore their own ſinful fear and want of Faith in Gods Promiſes that hindred them from driving them out.
Judges 1.17, 18, 19.