unfaithfulness towards the God of Israel."  152 He now urged upon them the remembrance, yet fresh in their

minds, of the consequences of the sin of Peor, and which had, alas! still left its bitter roots among the

people.153 If, on account of their uncleanness, they felt as if they needed nearer proximity to the altar, he

invited them back to the western side of the Jordan where the other tribes would make room for them. But if

they persisted in their sin, he reminded them how the sin of the one individual, Achan, had brought wrath

on all the congregation. If so, then the rest of Israel must take action, so as to clear themselves of complicity

in their "rebellion."

In reply, the accused tribes protested, in language of the most earnest expostulation, that their conduct had

been wholly misunderstood.154 So far from wishing to separate from the tabernacle and worship of Jehovah,

this great altar had been reared as a witness to all ages that they formed an integral part of Israel, lest in the

future they might be debarred from the service of Jehovah. That, and that alone, had been their meaning,

however ill expressed. The explanation thus offered was cause of deep thankfuln ess to the deputies and to

all Israel. Thus, in the good providence of God, this cloud also passed away.

A twofold work had been intrusted to Joshua: to conquer the land (Joshua 1:8), and to divide it by

inheritance among the people  155 (1:6). Both had been done, and in the spirit of strength, of courage, and of

believing obedience enjoined at the outset (1:7). Unlike his great predecessor and master, Moses, he had

been allowed to finish his task, and even to rest after its completion.156 And now he had reached one

hundred and ten years, the age at which his ancestor Joseph had died (Genesis 50:26). Like a father who

thinks of and seeks to provide for the future of his children after his death;157 like Moses when he gathered

up all his life, his mission, and his teaching in his last discourses; as the Apostle Peter, when he endeavored

that Christians might "be able after his Exodus158 to have these things always in remembrance," so did

Joshua care for the people of his charge. On two successive occasions he gathere d all Israel, through their

representative "elders,"  159 to address to them last words. They are in spirit and even in tenor singularly like

those of Moses, as indeed he had no new truth to communicate.

The first assembly must have taken place either in his own city of Timnath-serah,160 or else at Shiloh. The

address there given had precisely the same object as that afterwards delivered by him, and indeed may be

described as preparatory to the latter.

Probably the difference between the two lies in this, that the first discourse treated of the future of Israel

rather in its political aspect, while the second, as befitted the circumstances, chiefly dwelt on the past

mercies of Jehovah, and urged upon the people decision in their spiritual choice. Both discourses are

marked by absence of all self-exaltation or reference to his own achievements. It is the language of one who,

after long and trying experience, could sum up all he knew and felt in these words: "As for me and my

house, we will serve Jehovah." The first discourse of Joshua consisted of two parts (23:2-13, and 14-16),

each beginning with an allusion to his approaching end, as the motive of his admonitions. Having first

reminded Israel of all God's benefits and of His promises, in case of their faithfulness, he beseecheth them:

"Take heed very much to your souls to love Jehovah your God" (ver. 11), the danger of an opposite course

being described with an accumulation of imagery that shows how deeply Joshua felt the impending danger.

Proceeding in the same direction, the second part of Joshua's address dwells upon the absolute certainty

with which judgment would follow, as surely as formerly blessing had come.

The second address of Joshua, delivered to the same audience as the first, was even more solemn. For, this

time, the assembly took place at Shechem, where, on first entering the land, Israel had made solemn

covenant by responding from Mounts Ebal and Gerizim to the blessings and the curses enunciated in the

law. And the present gathering also was t o end in renewal of that covenant. Moreover, it was in Shechem

that Abraham had, on entering Canaan, received the first Divine promise, and here he had built an altar unto

Jehovah (Genesis 12:6, 7). Here also had Jacob settled after his return from Mesopotamia, and purged his

household from lingering idolatry, by burying their Teraphim under an oak (Genesis 33:20; 35:2, 4). It was

truly a "sanctuary of Jehovah" (Joshua 24:26), and they who came to it, "gathered before God"  161 (ver.1). In

language the most tender and impressive, reminding us of Stephen's last speech before the Sanhedrim (Acts