And she

of thine oath, which thou hast made us to swear. said, According to your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed, and she bound the scarlet line in the window. And they went and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned. And the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not. So the two men returned and descended from the mountain, and passed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all things that befel them. And they said unto Joshua, Truly the Lord hath delivered into our hands all the land, for even all the inhabitants of the country faint because of us."

That Rahab was a true believer at this time, and that her conduct in receiving and concealing the spies was pleasing to God, we have the testimony of our inspired Apostle, who places her in that famous list of believers, whose names are recorded in the eleventh chapter of the Hebrews, and says, "By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace." There is no dif

ficulty in understanding how a woman who had lived a licentious life should become a true believer; for many women of the same character became penitents in the time of our Saviour. Indeed, they were more ready to receive his doctrine, and to attach themselves to him as his disciples, than the self-righteous Pharisees. But how can we reconcile with piety, the conduct of Rahab, in telling a palpable falsehood to the king's officers, in order to preserve the lives of the spies? Is it lawful to do evil that good may come? Is it right, on any occasion, to violate truth? Some have maintained that a falsehood was no sin, when the only end to be answered by it was the preservation of human life, or female chastity; and that there is no moral evil in deceiving those who are engaged in perpetrating a horrible wickedness. They allege, that we are not bound to declare the truth to those who have no right to know it, and whose only motive in demanding it, is that they may commit an atrocious crime. This is a plausible doctrine, and in many cases, would be very convenient to prevent evils which are imminent. But however plausible it may appear, at first sight, it is not sound. If admitted, how far would it lead us? Would it not follow, that, in every case, where we thought we could do good by a falsehood, we are at liberty to resort to it? The consequence then would be, that all confidence among men would be destroyed. We should not know when good men declared any thing, whether to credit it or not; for they might be persuaded, for some reason, that a lie would be promotive of some good end. It will not answer, to say, that the right to tell a lie is confined to cases of great importance, and when by

this means evils not otherwise to be avoided, can be prevented; for if we may violate truth for a greater good, we may also for a less; and if the principle be once established, the distinction between greater and less will be of little consequence. Every man will judge for himself, whether the occasion is such as to justify a falsehood; and he will have no clear rule by which to form his judgment. The establishment of such a principle of morality, if it did not expel all truth from the earth, would have the effect to destroy all confidence among men; and would, in this way, introduce innumerable evils. We must maintain, therefore, that a lie is never justifiable; and that, although it is not always necessary to declare all the truth that we know, we are never at liberty to declare that which is not true. This being the correct principle of morals, in regard to speaking the truth, we cannot justify the conduct of Rahab, in resorting to a falsehood to deceive the men who were in pursuit of the spies; and although her faith in receiving the spies is celebrated by Paul, yet he does not praise the means which she used to secrete them. The difficulty still returns, how can we reconcile the commission of such a sin with the existence of piety. On this I would remark, that the best of human beings are frail and imperfect. Good people often labour under grievous mistakes in regard to the law of God, as well as other things. In early ages there was less light on the subject of moral duty, than in later periods: many things which were then uncertain and obscure, have been elucidated by the experience of ages, and more especially, by the clearer revelation of the Divine will. In all past ages, some things which are now almost universally reckoned sinful, were not viewed to be wrong. I might give as instances, the persecution of men for their religious opinions when erroneous, and the slave-trade. All the reformers agreed in opinion that heretics ought to be pursued with punishment by the secular power; and until within half a century, no one seems to have considered the moral evil of trading in human beings, and of bringing them into a state of involuntary servitude. During the prevalence of these errors, all sorts of persons participated in the sins which arose out of them. Calvin and Cranmer were concerned in bringing heretics to the stake; but their conduct met with the general approbation of good men at that time. So John Newton, after his conversion, followed the slave-trade, without a suspicion, as he informs us, of its evil; and so did many other good men. But sins of ignorance differ exceedingly from the same sins committed against light. From a careful attention to the history recorded in the Old Testament, it appears, that it was commonly received as a principle, and acted upon by the patriarchs and others, that to preserve life, it was lawful to depart from the truth.

Thus, we find Abraham teaching Sarah to say, that she was his sister, which, though true in a certain sense, was nevertheless intended to deceive. We find Isaac guilty of similar conduct, on a similar occasion. The same is true of many others, and particularly of David, who, on several occasions, declared what was not true; and none of these persons appear to have been sensible that they were doing wrong. It seems, therefore, that in former times, it was admitted as a principle of morals, that it was lawful to utter a falsehood, or to use deceitful words, to preserve life. Is it to be wondered at then, that a woman who had been brought up in idolatry, and had lived a licentious life, and was but just converted to the true religion, should have erred in such a case? It would have been truly wonderful, if in opposition to the universal current of opinion, she had perceived the moral evil of deceiving those who came to apprehend the men whom she believed to be the servants of Jehovah. While therefore, we cannot justify the means which she employed to do good, we can readily believe that her motives were pure, and her faith strong. She erred, indeed, but it was the error not merely of one, but of the age; yea, of all antiquity; in which she had as participants, some of the most eminent saints who ever lived. And we should not be too rigid and censorious in judging the faithful of former ages, when it is not improbable, that our more enlightened posterity may see, that most Christians of the present day, have been living in the practice of some things which to them will appear to be inconsistent with the purity and perfection of Christian morals.

SECTION II.

THE PASSAGE OF THE ISRAELITES OVER THE RIVER JORDAN.

WHEN Joshua had obtained the information which he desired, he removed from Shittim, and encamped on the bank of Jordan. Here he remained for three days; and the officers passed through the host, and marshalled and prepared them for the invasion of the land, which lay before them. "And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place and go after it. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Come not near to it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go, for ye have not passed this way heretofore. And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves, for to-morrow the Lord will do wonders. And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant

and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people. And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know, that as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan. And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither and hear the words of the Lord your God. And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Gergashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites. Behold the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth, passeth over before you into Jordan. Now, therefore, take ye twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man; and it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests, that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above, and they shall stand upon an heap. And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents to pass over Jordan, and the priests, bearing the ark of the covenant, before the people; and as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the waters, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks, all the time of harvest,) that the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up upon an heap, very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan; and those that came down from the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people passed over right against Jericho. And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry gound, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan." The Lord now said to Joshua, "Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man; and command you them, saying, Take you hence, out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones; and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place where ye shall lodge this night." And Joshua directed these twelve men to pass over before the ark of the Lord, and to take up a stone, every man upon his shoulder; that when, in time to come, children should ask their fathers, saying, "What mean ye by these stones? then ye shall answer them, that the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord"-"and these stones shall be a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever." And agreeably

to the orders of Joshua, twelve stones were taken up by the men selected, one from each tribe, and they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there;" and Joshua set them for a memorial, where they remained standing for many years. When the congregation of Israel had finished crossing the river, then the priests who had stood all this time at the entrance, also passed over. In the van of this army were forty thousand light armed soldiers from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half of Manasseh, who, according to their previous engagement, having received their own inheritance on the east side of the river, now went forward in the front of the host, to aid their brethren in the conquest of the land of Canaan. This passage of Jordan was effected over against the plains of Jericho. Joshua was now held in reverence by the people, as Moses had been before him; and as soon as the priests had come up out of the channel of the river, over which all the people had passed, as on dry land, immediately, the waters of Jordan returned to their place, and flowed over all the banks, as they did before. This remarkable event occurred on the tenth day of the first month, which corresponded with our March or April. The place of the first encampment of the Israelites was at Gilgal, a name given on account of an event to be mentioned immediately. Here the pillar, or monument formed with the twelve stones taken from the bed of the river, was erected, on which occasion, they were commanded to hand down to their children a particular explanation of the purpose for which this monument was raised. "Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land, for the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until you were passed over; as the Lord your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over: that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever."

SECTION III.

CIRCUMCISION OF THE ISRAELITES AT GILGAL-THE PASSOVER IS OBSERVED-THE MANNA CEASES THE CAPTAIN OF THE HOST OF THE LORD APPEARS TO JOSHUA.

WHEN the kings who resided on the west side of Jordan understood that Israel had actually passed the river, and that the Lord had dried up the waters before them, their heart melted within them.

Joshua now received a commandment from the Lord to circumcise the males of the children of Israel; for, although all