See Ver. 1-3. Let us act as God directs us; and we may reasonably expect success. It was out of brotherly regard that Judah, the stronger tribe, proposed to Simeon the weaker, that they should help each other in taking possession of the land. Let us act in concert with our brethren; and we shall be more likely to prevail against the common enemy. It was a just retribution to Adoni-bezek, and he felt it so to be himself, that he was treated on the principle of the law revealed by Moses, "eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." Ex. 21. 24. Let us do unto others as we would they should do unto us. Else we know

not how soon the day may come, when our sin shall find us out, and when the wrongs which we have done, to any of the least of our fellow creatures, shall be visited on ourselves by God; according to the rule laid down by Christ, "with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." Matt. 7. 2.

Great was the success of Judah, whilst the Lord was with Him. Each city as it was assailed was taken. "And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said." And Caleb, in taking possession of his territory, gave out of his abundance to his daughter, having given her, as he promised, to Othniel to wife. See Josh. 15. 16. But whilst these things prove entire and peaceable possession, on the part of Judah, as long as the Lord was with him, we know that there were times when God saw fit to turn away the light of his countenance, and when Judah found his arm unable to prevail. Jerusalem, though now taken, was again lost, and was not finally and entirely possessed till long afterwards, in the times of David. See 2 Sam. 5. 6, 7. Gaza, and Askelon, and Ekron, with their coasts, soon again became strong holds of the enemies of Israel. See Ch. 16. 21; 1 Sam. 5. 10. And even now, whilst Judah "drave out the inhabitants of the mountains," yet he "could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron." But was the Lord's arm shortened that He could not help? Were chariots of iron any hindrance unto Him, that He should not give the victory to Judah, over the inhabitants of the valley, as easily as over those of the mountain? No; it was for want of faith in Judah; it is our lack of faithfulness, our deficiency in zeal and love, that makes one battle more hard to us than another, one sin more difficult to conquer, one grace more difficult to attain, than the rest. With God all things are possible. And unto God all are alike easy. Let us go forward in the most arduous of our spiritual aggressions, and against the most fierce onsets of our spiritual foes, in the full persuasion that God can and will give us help; and behold there shall be nothing able to resist us. "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper :" we may then take this prophetic promise of Isaiah to ourselves; "and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord." Is. 54, 17.

The imperfect success of several of the tribes. 21 And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.

29 Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.

22 And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel: and the LORD was with them. 23 And the house of Josephsent to descry Beth-el. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.) 24 And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Shew us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will shew thee mercy. 25 And when he shewed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family.

26 And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz: which is the name thereof unto this day.

27 Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.

28 And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out.

30 Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries.

31 Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob: 32 But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: for they did not drive them out.

33 Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Bethanath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became tributaries unto them.

34 And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley: 35 But the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became tributaries.

36 And the coast of the Amorites was from the going up to Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward. LECTURE 407.

Against consenting to take tribute of the world.

Jerusalem was on the confines of the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin. And though Judah had fought against the city, and taken it, see ver. 8, yet the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited that portion which fell to their lot. The consequence was, that the Jebusites dwelt with the

children of Benjamin in Jerusalem, for a long time afterwards, to their no small risk and harm. Neither did Manasseh, nor Ephraim, nor Zebulun, nor Asher, nor Naphtali, nor Dan, prevail against the inhabitants of the land, as they might have done, if they had entirely trusted in the Lord, and entirely fulfilled his commandments. The house of Joseph had indeed God on their side, in their attack on the city of Beth-el. And they prevailed and took it with such ease, through the treachery of one of the inhabitants, as ought to have encouraged them to believe, that God had delivered all into their hands. But for all this, the Canaanites were still allowed to dwell among them, both by Manasseh and by Ephraim. And Manasseh, as well as Zebulun, and Naphtali, made gain to themselves by exacting tribute of the enemies, with whom they were bound to hold no intercourse at all.

It is to be feared that in these cases the love of money, that root of all evil, see 1 Tim. 6. 10, was one chief inducement with the Israelites, to let the Canaanites still dwell in the land. Shall we go up, they would be apt to reason, and fight with much risk and trouble against these enemies, who are willing to submit in peace and pay us tribute? Will it not be better to take the money, which they will pay on condition of letting them remain, than to drive them out, or cut them off, and lose this source of wealth, with some risk of being ourselves defeated? It is easy to conceive the Israelites thus reasoning; for we know how apt we are to reason thus ourselves. "Have no fellowship," thus it is that God commands us, by St. Paul, "have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." Eph. 5. 11. But may we not, we ask, consistently with our safety, allow some quarter to some portion of our sins? And especially the love of money, this almost universal passion, may it not be so far indulged, as to gain more than otherwise we ought, in order that we may have to give more than otherwise we could? May we not do well, by extending our dealings, and enlarging our gains, and putting some little violence on our consciences, to amass the means of doing more extensive good, and so make the world tributary to the church? No; for covetousness is expressly mentioned by St. Paul, as one of those unfruitful works of darkness, with which we must have no fellowship. See Eph. 5. 3, 5. By holding any intercourse with an enemy such as this, we shall lose far more than we can gain. We must never seek to promote God's work by disobeying his will. Nor can we in this sense take tribute of the world, without putting in jeopardy our own hope of heaven. In our warfare against the works of darkness there must be no compromise. There must be no hesitation in the force of that reproof, which we are bound to administer, both with our lips and in our lives, to sin in all its forms. God knows what is best for his service. It is enough for us to know what He would have us to do. And where his will is plainly revealed, we must heartily and thoroughly obey.

The angel of the Lord at Bochim. Israel under the judges. 1 And an angel of the LORD which he had done for Israel. came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. 2 And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?

11 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim :

3 Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.

4 And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.

5 And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the LORD. 6 And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.

7 And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel.

8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.

9 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash. 10 And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works

12 And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. 13 And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. 14 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.

15 Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.

16 Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.

17 And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walkedin,obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so.

18 And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them

that oppressed them and vexed them.

and have not hearkened unto my voice;

21 I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died:

22 That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.

19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way. 20 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and he 23 Therefore the LORD left those said, Because that this people nations, without driving them hath transgressed my covenant out hastily; neither delivered which I commanded their fathers, he them into the hand of Joshua. LECTURE 408.

What use we might make of the vicissitudes of the church. This chapter contains a general view of the state of Israel during the period embraced by the Book of Judges. The generations which had not witnessed the mighty works, wrought by God in the deliverance of his people, forsook his covenant, and served other gods besides Him, and made peace with the inhabitants of the land, whom He would have had them drive out. Hereupon the Lord protested, by an angel, that it was not He that brake his covenant, but they and that seeing they had broken it, He would not do as He would otherwise have done, but would leave the nations which remained at the death of Joshua to be as thorns in their sides, for their punishment, and as means of proof to try their obedience. And for this end He also sent them judges, to try them and to prove what was in their hearts; that it might be seen how willing He was to shew mercy upon them, and how apt they were to be unthankful for his love. And this was in all probability the means of leading many to weep for their sins, and to repent, and in the midst of the public abominations and idolatry to walk in private humbly with their God. If something not unlike to this has taken place in the history of the Christian church, if many faithful men have at times been raised up, to revive truth and piety, whilst also many ungodly men have been allowed to remain in the community of Christians, to prove us, and to punish us in our sins; let us hope that all the while evil has been overruled for good, let us pray, and let us strive, that it may be always so overruled in us. Let the vicissitudes of the church put us upon our guard against the danger of falling away from God. Let his judgments prevent us from presuming. Let his mercies forbid us to despond. And whilst we thank Him for the help He gives us unto holiness, by his more eminent servants in the Gospel, let the presence of many others amongst us, who neither serve, nor love, nor believe, be a check to us, as it is a proof to God, that we "keep the way of the Lord to walk therein."