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Joshua succeedeth Moses.

Before CHRIST 1451.

CHAP. XXXIV.

6 And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.

7 And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his + natural + Heb. fed. force + abated.

+ Heb. moisture.

8 ¶ And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. 9¶ And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the

by Samuel, or some Prophet who succeeded him. They were admitted by Ezra as authentick, and we have no reason to question the fidelity of the account. Dr. Gray. It is an opinion, which seems very consonant to reason, that the book of Deuteronomy ended with the prophetick blessing of Moses upon the twelve tribes. Before the invention of sections and other divisions, and when sometimes several books were connected together, and followed each other upon the same roll, according to the ancient method of writing, it is no hard matter to conceive how easily the beginning of one book may have been transferred to the end of another; so that in process of time that may have been reputed the conclusion of Deuteronomy, which was originally intended for the introduction to Joshua Stackhouse.

6. And he buried him] The same God, that by the hands of his angels carried up the soul of Moses to his glory, doth also by the hand of his angels carry his body down into the valley of Moab, to his sepulture. Those hands, which had received the law from Him, those eyes that had seen his presence, those lips that had conferred so often with Him, that face that did so shine with the beams of his glory, may not be neglected when the soul is gone: He, that took charge of his birth and preservation in the reeds, takes charge of his carriage out of the world: the care of God ceaseth not over his own, either in death, or after it. Bp. Hall.

22.

10. And there arose not a prophet-like unto Moses,] Moses was mighty both in words and deeds, Acts vii. He excelled in miracles and prophecies, and still more in legislation. His laws and institutions have been admired and adopted by the wisest sages of antiquity. And upon the closest scrutiny, they breathe a spirit of the most exalted piety, the most extensive benevolence, and the most enlightened policy, worthy indeed of the tutelar God of Israel, by whom they were dictated to this most highly favoured "man of God," because most "faithful servant of the Lord;" Deut. xxxiii. 1; Numb. xii. 7; Heb. iii. 2; with whom God conversed "face to face;" or familiarly, as a man speaketh unto his friend," Exod. xxxiii. 11.

The faculties of this illustrious legislator, both of mind and body, were unimpared at the age of 120 years, when he died. "His eye was not dim, nor his natural strength abated," ver. 7. And the noblest of all his compositions was his Song, or the Divine Ode, which Bp. Lowth elegantly styles, "the dying swan's

oration."

His death took place after the Lord had shewn him from the top of Pisgah a distant view of the promised land, throughout its whole extent: and He then

The praise of Moses. children of Israel hearkened unto him, Before and did as the LORD commanded Moses.

10 And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,

11 In all the signs and the wonders, which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land,

12 And in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel.

CHRIST

1451.

"buried his body in a valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Moab; but no man knoweth his sepulchre unto this day," observes the sacred historian, who annexed the circumstances of his death to the book of Deuteronomy, ver. 6. From an obscure passage in the New Testament, in which "Michael the archangel is said to have contended with the devil, about the body of Moses," Jude 9, we may collect that he was buried by the ministry of angels, near the scene of the idolatry of the Israelites; but that the spot was purposely concealed, lest his tomb might also be converted into an object of idolatrous worship among the Israelites, like the brasen serpent. Beth-peor lay in the lot of the Reubenites, Josh. xiii. 20. His death was announced by the Lord Himself to Joshua, "Moses my servant is dead, &c." Josh. i. 2. So that there was no human witness of his decease; the account of which was probably added by Joshua from revelation.

The pre-eminence of his character is briefly described by the sacred historian, Samuel or Ezra: "And there arose not a Prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, in all the signs and the wonders, which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, and in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terrour which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel."

The noblest trait in his moral character was his patriotick disinterestedness. He twice refused the tempting offer of the aggrandizement of his own family, when God threatened to reject the Israelites for their rebellions, and make of him "a great nation" in their stead. And he left his sons, without rank or patrimony, as private Levites, to subsist on the national bounty, in common with their brethren!-And, melancholy to relate, his grandson, "Jonathan, the son of Gershom," and his family, became idolatrous priests to the Danites, until the capture of the ark by the Philistines, Judg. xviii. 30; where the Masorite doctors, to hide the disgrace to his memory, changed "Moses" into "Manasses," by interpolating the letter N in the present copies of the Hebrew text. The posterity of his son Eliezer were numerous in Solomon's time, and some of them high in office, 1 Chron. xxiii. 14-17; xxvi. 24, 25. Dr. Hales.

Thus, with the death of this eminent Prophet and Lawgiver, ended the PENTATEUCH: containing the sacred history of the world, and of mankind in general, and of the Abrahamick family in particular, for the first two thousand, five hundred, and fifty-three years: namely, from the Creation to the arrival of the Israelites in the land of Canaan. Pyle.

DEUTERONOMY.

The following are the Chapters from the Book of Deuteronomy, appointed for Proper Lessons on Sundays and Holydays:

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THE BOOK OF

JOSHU A.

INTRODUCTION.

AFTER the Pentateuch, we enter on those, which are commonly called the Historical Books of the Old Testament; comprising the books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, the two books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles: also those of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. These books contain a compendium of the Jewish history for a period of 1042 years: that is, from the death of Moses, in the year of the world 2553 (before Christ 1451), to the reformation established by Nehemiah, after the return from the captivity, in the year of the world 3595 (before Christ 409). In these books, the object of the sacred historians is, to communicate instruction to mankind, and to illustrate the nature of God's providence, in small as well as great occurrences; in particular instances as well as general appointments. They therefore often descend from the great outline of national concerns to the minute details of private history. The relations however of individual events occasionally interspersed are highly interesting: and admirably develop the designs of the Almighty, and the character of those times to which they are respectively assigned. Those seeming digressions too, in which the inspired writers have recorded such remarkable events as related to particular personages, or such occurrences in foreign countries, as tended to affect the history of the Jews, are not only valuable for the religious spirit which they breathe, and the incidental evidence of authenticity which they afford, but are to be admired, as strictly consistent with the sacred plan. These books therefore constitute an important part of the sacred volume; furnishing a complete code of instructive lessons, conveyed under every form, diversified with every style of composition, and enlivened with various illustrations of circumstance and character.

The book of Joshua continues the sacred history from the death of Moses to the deaths of Joshua and Eleazar, a space of about thirty years. It contains an account of the conquest and division of the land of Canaan, the renewal of the covenant with the Israelites, and the death of Joshua. There are two passages in this book which shew that it was written by a person, who lived at the time when the events happened. In the 1st verse of chap. v, the author speaks of himself as being one of those who passed into Canaan, by using the expression, "Until we were passed over." And in the 25th verse of the following chapter, it appears that the book was written when Rahab was alive for it is said of her, "she dwelleth in Israel unto this day." There is not a perfect agreement among the learned, respecting the author of this book: but by far the most general opinion is, that it was written by Joshua himself. The five last verses, giving an account of the death of Joshua, were added by one of his successors, probably by Phinehas or Samuel. Dr. Gray, Bp. Tomline.

Before CHRIST

1451.

CHAP. I.

1 to succeed

mind of their promise to Moses. 16 They
promise him fealty.

Before CHRIST

The Lord appointeth Joshua saften of the LORD it came
Moses. 3 The borders of the promised NOW after the death of Moses

land. 5, 9 God promiseth to assist Joshua.
& He giveth him instructions.
10 He pre-
pareth the people to pass over Jordan.
Joshua putteth the two tribes and half in

12

Chap. I. ver. 1.— Joshua the son of Nun,] His original name was Hoshea or Oshea, Deut. xxxii. 44, which Moses, whose minister he was, Exod. xxiv. 13, changed into Jehoshua, Numb. xiii. 16; and by contraction, Joshua or Jeshua, or Jesus, (according to the Greek pronunciation,) Acts vii. 45; Heb. iv. 8; signifying "Saviour." He therefore was a type of Christ, both in his name and in his actions, as well as Moses. The first notice of him is on the occasion of the Amalekite war, Exod. xvii. 9, where he was appointed captain of a chosen party to

1451.

to pass, that the LORD spake unto
Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' a minis- a Deut. 1. 38.
ter, saying,

repel their attack, at which time he was about forty-four years of age, and was called a young man, Exod. xxxiii. 11. Even then he was pre-ordained by the Lord to put the Israelites in possession of the promised land, as appears from the injunction to Moses to record in a book the aggression of the Amalekites, and the decree of their extermination, and to rehearse it in the ears of Joshua, as a memorial to him and the future judges, Exod. xvii. 14. The Lord appointed him to succeed Moses, at Numb. xxvii. 18. Joshua was about the age of eighty

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