Bible Commentaries
Joshua 1

Verses 1-9

XIX

JEHOVAH’S CHARGE TO JOSHUA

Joshua 1:1-9

Our discussion commences in Joshua I, and I shall present it in the form of questions and answers.

1. Where was Israel at this time?

Ans. – Israel was camped in what is called the "Meadow of the Acacias," near the upper part of the Dead Sea and opposite the river Jordan.

2. What time?

Ans. – It is forty years after leaving Egypt in the spring of the year, in the month of Abib. Later that month is called Nisan, and it comes nearer to answering to our April than any other time. The Jews had lunar months and we have calendar months; hence every one of our months covers a part of two of their months.

3. What incidental evidences from the text of the time of the year?

Ans. – One is that the harlot Rahab had on the top of her house spread out the stalks of flax. That was an April harvest. Flax stalks are dried out and the fibrous covering of the stalk is used to make thread and other things. Another circumstance is that it is stated that after they got over into the Promised Land they ate the new corn. Our text says old corn, but it doesn’t mean old corn. It means the produce of the fields, which was barley. The barley harvest and the flax came in the spring of the year, in April.

4. What are the circumstances of the people of Israel at this time?

Ans. – Moses, Aaron, and Miriam are all dead. The entire generation of grown men that set out from Egypt except two are dead. It is a new generation. But while Moses is gone, God is still present, and under a new leader they are to proceed with their history, and they have already conquered all the territory east of the Jordan River, Moab and Gilead, and have settled there two tribes and a half, Reuben is the land of Moab, Gad in the land of Ammon, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead further up. Their organization is compact, they have just sworn to renew the covenant. These arc the circumstances.

5. The book commences in English with the word "now," it really means "and," and it is a connective. The question is, What is the force of the connective?

Ans. – That has been explained several times before. It shows that it succeeds regularly the preceding book. Genesis, the first of the first group, is followed by Exodus, Leviticus, and then Numbers; then Deuteronomy, the first of the second group, is followed by Joshua, which commences with "and," and so on until we get through 2 Kings. I have explained before about the force of that connective.

6. What thoughts on succession suggested by the first verse, "After the death of Moses Jehovah spake unto Joshua"?

Ans. – The thoughts are these: Human leaders die, God lives. As one human leader drops out, God has prepared another to take his place. If Elijah’s time has expired, Elisha is ready to take his place; and so it is with reference to the church. There has been a succession of the churches from the day that Christ said, "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it," and a succession of preachers. Paul dies, but before he dies he appoints faithful men to come after him to take up the work and carry it on.

7. Cite passages showing how Joshua has been prepared, appointed, qualified, and charged for this work.
Ans. – Now, here are the passages: Numbers 27:15-23, Deuteronomy 31:7-8; Deuteronomy 31:14-15; Deuteronomy 34:9. These passages show that a provision was made while Moses was yet well and the leader, to designate a successor, to appoint that successor, qualify that successor, to deliver solemn charges from both God and Moses to that successor. Read very carefully every one of these passages.

8. Moses is called the "servant of the Lord" and Joshua is called "the minister of Moses": "Jehovah after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, spoke unto Joshua, Moses’ minister." My question is, Distinguish between the meaning of "servant" and "minister," and show which one is the higher term, and show when the higher term became Joshua’s.

Ans. – To call one "the servant of Jehovah" is the highest title you can confer on him. "Minister" means attendant. It is a different word in the Hebrew. It means Moses’ attendant. In other words, just as the apostles were attendants of Christ (they were about with him while he prepared them to take his place after he is gone), so Joshua was Moses’ attendant or minister. "Servant" was applied to Joshua in Joshua 24:29.

9. Analyze Jehovah’s command to Joshua, its imperative conditions, its promises, its exhortations, and the meaning of "this book of the law."

Ans. – The analysis is: It is very imperative, very peremptory: "Go over this river and take this land that I promised to Israel." And the exhortation is "be strong; don’t be a weakling; be courageous; don’t get rattled and scared." And the promises are (1) "I will be to you as I was to Moses." (2) "I will never forsake you," and (3) "I will put high honour on you." Those are the promises. Those promises are to you and to any Christian preacher. Now, the conditions were, "You take this book of the Law." That shows that the Pentateuch had been written, that everything was recorded at that time, that the Pentateuch was the constitution of Israel and its statute book as well. "You take this book of the Law and meditate on it night and day and observe to do exactly as it says. Don’t you go to the right hand or to the left hand; plumb the track; keep in the middle of the road." These are the conditions. "Now, if you will rigidly obey orders I will never leave you nor forsake you; never under any circumstances shall enemies be able to stand up before you."

It is said that preachers are the most disobedient of all Christians; that they understand less than any other class of Christians the principles of rigid obedience. One man asked Wellington concerning a certain mission, "What are we to do about it in view of that difficulty?" Wellington said, "What are your marching orders?" And they turned to the commission and read it and he said, "There is nothing to ask questions about. Do what you are told to do. Don’t stop to consider the difficulties." I have just been reading of the education of Frederick the Great, and there isn’t a preacher in Texas that could have stood it three days; what he had to go through with from the time he was five years old until he became a grown man. Now I will give you one of the rules, and his whole life had to be according to rule. At six o’clock he had to be waked up, and if it was a week day, had just fifteen minutes in which to say his prayers, bathe, and dress and eat his breakfast, while the servant dressed his hair – just fifteen minutes) not a second over; as soon as the servant touched him to wake him up, he must bounce out of bed and say prayers and bathe, dress, and eat his breakfast while they were dressing his hair. Then for every half-hour there was a duty: "You take up grammar there, mathematics here, etc." After a while in the day would come a rest spell, but there was no vacation, year in and year out.

Now, Joshua was a soldier like Wellington. When God gave him this command, "Go across the Jordan; keep this book in your hand; meditate on it day and night, just obey! obey! obey!" from the day that he was commended until he died he never swerved. This is one of the most remarkable cases of implicit obedience of which we have any record. The meaning of "this book of the Law" is the Pentateuch.

10. What three famous rivers are mentioned in God’s command to Joshua?

Ans. – The Nile, the Jordan, and the Euphrates.

11. What is the meaning of "Jordan"?

Ans. – It means the Descender. And that is what it strictly is. It is a sharp inclined plane from its spring in Lebanon to its entrance into the Dead Sea. It certainly does descend more than any other river in the world. There is no other river on the map of the world of such a length that descends as much in that distance; therefore, of course, it is not navigable.

12. What is the peculiarity of the usage of this name "Jordan"?

Ans. – The Cambridge Bible says on that, "It is never called ’The River Jordan’ or ’Brook Jordan.’ It is always ’Jordan.’" The Cambridge Bible is mistaken. The word "Jordan" is used 189 times in the Bible; fifty times by Moses, sixty-two times in Joshua, fifty-seven times in the other Old Testament books and a number of times in the New Testament; 189 times in all, but one time it is called "the river Jordan," and that is in Mark’s Gospel, Mark 1:5: "They were baptized of him in the river Jordan." But that is a remarkable peculiarity. You apply the word "river" to the Nile, the Euphrates and every other river in the world, but when you come to the Jordan, you don’t say "river." I got so interested in that that I finally got down my facsimile of the old manuscripts to see if this was in them and it is in all of them, i.e., this one mistake in the Cambridge Bible. That is the peculiarity of the usage of the name.

13. Describe it.

Ans. – Now, we are going to have so much to do with the Jordan in Bible history that you ought to be able to describe this river. Take it as it winds (and it winds very much), it is 240 miles long from its springs to the Dead Sea into which it flows or empties. A straight line from the Dead Sea to its springs would be one hundred and twenty miles. So it goes twice the distance going that way. Its general course is straight; it does not go off; it goes in a straight line, like the firing of a rifle ball from a gun. It has two heads, one of them in near Caesarea at Philippi, and those big springs come down and form a lake, called Lake Merom, and it looks like those springs are going to be swallowed up, but they come out of that lake into another lake, the Sea of Galilee; then it comes out of that lake about 70 feet wide and over a great many descents it goes deeper, down and down until it gets to the Dead Sea. Even the Sea of Galilee is five hundred feet lower than the sea level and the Dead Sea is over 1,200 feet lower than the sea level. So you see that river starts and runs into the earth and goes away down. It would be impossible for the Dead Sea to have an outlet; it would have to flow uphill to get out of the hole it is in.

Now, this is a very famous river. Once I preached a sermon, making the river Jordan a string and on it I strung the beads of history, and there was a cluster of beads at the Sea of Galilee and on down, down, down to the Dead Sea, taking the striking events of its history. Then I preached another sermon using the Dead Sea for an illustration of a man who receives and never gives out. The historic Jordan flows into it. Christ’s miracles, walking on the water, Christ’s passage and Joshua’s passage, and yet the Dead Sea swallows all that water up and never gives out anything. Its water is so salty that a fish cannot live in it, and even the apples on trees along the banks) when you touch them, crumble and go up into dust. Now, that is the man that continually takes in from every side and never dispenses anything. You ought always to have in your mind a picture of that Descender, that river Jordan.

14. The command says to go over and take possession of the land which "I have given the children of Israel, which I promised to their fathers, which I repromised to Moses, and now concerning the allotment of that particular piece of land, to the children of Israel." On this I give a number of subquestions :

(1) What is the principle of this giving?

Ans. – Turn to Acts 17:26: "I made of one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed seasons," that is, when a nation shall arise, when it shall fall, "and the bounds of their habitation that they shall seek God." That shows that the location of nations is of divine direction, and that the boundaries of nations are of divine direction, as a general principle.

(2) When was the division of the earth made among the several nations?

Ans. – You will find the answer to that question in Genesis 10:25. Concerning Peleg, the son of Shem, it is said, "In his day the earth was divided," allotted among the nations. That is what Peleg means, and not at the Tower of Babel after the tongues were confused. The order was for each nation to go where it had been allotted.

(3) What was the reason of that division which allots the Holy Land to Israel?

Ans. – Turn to Deuteronomy 32:8. Now, God does not always tell us his reasons; he had a reason, and when he allotted that particular section of the country to the people that were to be his chosen people, with a view to their influence over other people, he gave them a strategical position with reference to the countries of the world. He located them in the right place, showing how far-reaching is God’s plan; that he had picked out that section and allotted that section. This has a good deal of bearing on the question of the disposition of the Canaanites.

(4) The descendants of what son of Noah ignored the allotment?

Ans. – Children of Ham. When they went from Babel, they took possession of the country that was to be Shem’s. So these Hamites took possession of that country.

(5) Our lesson says that God is giving them this land he promised their fathers. Now, prove that he had made that promise to the fathers.

Ans. – Read Genesis 15:18-21: "In that day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite." That is the first promise to the fathers, which was four hundred years before this crowd of people stood on the bank of the river Jordan.

Our section says, "as I spake unto Moses." Now, I want to see where he said it to Moses. Turn to Deuteronomy 11:24, and Numbers 34:1. Now, what was promised to Abram was restated to Moses: "And I will set thy border from the Red Sea even unto the sea of the Philistines) and from the wilderness unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee," (Exodus 23:31). "And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, etc.," (Numbers 34:1-12). "Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness, and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the hinder sea shall be your border" (Deuteronomy 11:24).

15. What the boundaries of the land?

Ans. – Numbers 34:3: "Your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the side of Edom, and your south border shall be from the end of the Salt Sea eastward; and your border shall turn about southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass along to Zin; and the goings out thereof shall be southward of Kadesh-barnea; . . . unto the brook of Egypt [that is a bad translation; it is river, i.e., "river of Egypt"] and the goings out thereof shall be at the Sea." Notice that these translators are not willing that the Nile shall be one of the boundaries. They changed the word "river" to brook of Egypt, which is as dry as a powder house. So instead of brook, I shall read river. "Now for the western border, ye shall have the great sea [Mediterranean] and the border thereof; this shall be your west border. And this shall be your north border: from the great sea ye shall mark out for you Mount Hor; from Mount Hor ye shall mark out unto the entrance of Hamath;... and the border shall go forth to Ziphron; . . this shall be the north border. And ye shall mark out your east border from Hazar-enan to Shepham; . . . and the border shall go down to the Jordan, and the goings out thereof shall be at the Salt Sea. [That is the Dead Sea.] This shall be your land according to the borders thereof round about." Now, I have been thus particular in giving you the Genesis account of the boundaries of the countries and the Mosaic accounts and that leads to the next question.

16. Can you take a map and show the boundaries?

Ans. – 1 never saw anyone yet that could do it. I have tried it, I suppose, on 100 Doctors of Divinity. Now, here are some sub-questions:

(1) What the difficulty in determining the boundaries?

Ans. – What is meant by the river of Egypt? The translators translate it "brook," being unwilling to think that it touched the Nile, which is called the river of Egypt.

(2) What bearing has the name, Shihor, in determining what is the river of Egypt?

Ans. – Here are the scriptures: Joshua 13:3; 1 Chronicles 13:5; Isaiah 23:3; Jeremiah 2:18. These passages show that the "river of Egypt" means the Nile. That is where Shihor comes in in all those passages and is what is called the east fork of the Nile, the Pelusium fork. You see when the Nile gets low down it divides itself into a great many channels forming a delta, all of which run into the Mediterranean Sea. The most eastern is called the Pelusium. Now, this is where the Promised Land commenced. It was to be that Nile and follow the fork of the Nile down until it struck the Mediterranean Sea.

(3) What is the southwest starting point in getting this boundary?

Ans. – On the Mediterranean where the eastern branch of the Nile comes into the Mediterranean Sea. There you get your start.

(4) Now give the western line.

Ans. – You follow the Mediterranean Sea up until you get to what is called the entering in of Hamath.

(5) Northern line?

Ans. – I had my son to explore that line for me. He was then studying for his Ph.D. degree in Berlin and he and two other boys explored the boundaries of the Promised Land. And his letter was particularly interesting in which he told of the entering of Hamath. It went above Damascus and beyond Damascus until it struck the Euphrates River. So from the entering in of Hamath is the northern line.

(6) Eastern line?

Ans. – Now when it left the Euphrates to get the eastern line it came down the wilderness of Arabia, leaving Gilead, Moab, and the Jordan River, and strikes the lower side of the Dead Sea.

Now, the hardest of all borders is the southern. Moses tells exactly the line to follow in that Numbers passage. You start at the southern extremity of the Dead Sea and go to Kadesh-barnea, going just south of it, and go across to that eastern branch of the Nile. It is an oblique line, Just like the northern line is an oblique one.

(7) What things must determine the southern line?

Ans. – The following things must determine: First, it must commence at the southern part of the Dead Sea; second, it must not take in any of Edom: that is Esau’s country; they are expressly forbidden to enter that. Therefore it must not go west from there but it must go northwest, leaving Kadesh-barnea to the left, and go across the desert until it strikes the Pelusium, that eastern branch of the Nile

(8) When were these boundaries realized?

Ans. – Certainly not in Joshua’s time, but they were in David and Solomon’s time. All the countries described in the Genesis 15, Numbers 34, and Deuteronomy 11, that entire country, embraced the kingdom of David and Solomon.

17. (1) Who the people in the land, and how located?

Ans. – These people, as I told you, were the descendants of Ham, who had usurped the country that was never allotted to them. The list of the nations, the great division of the nations, is given three times. I shall give one of them. This list includes seven, though there were many subdivisions: First, the Canaanites. Were these descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham? Some of them were the descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham. But the word "Canaanites" simply means lowlanders. The Canaanites dwelt in the low places. Second, the Amorites, that means highlanders. They lived in the mountains. Third, the Hittites. Hittites means descendants of Heth. You remember that Abraham bought Machpelah from the children of Heth. The fourth, the Jebusites, and these people occupied the whole country which included Jerusalem. From Jebus came the name Jerusalem. Now, there were subdivisions until they made thirty-two in all. Joshua tells us that he conquered thirty-two kings in taking possession of this land. (For the location of all these and also the Hivites, the Perizzites and the Girgashites see Bible Atlas.)

(2) What three nations besides these seven are very famous?

Ans. – First, the Philistines. They were on the Mediterranean coast. Second, the Amalekites. The Amalekites dwelt in the wilderness of Arabia south of the Holy Land. Third, the Phoenicians. The chief cities of the Phoenicians are Tyre and Sidon.

18. Describe their character.

Ans. – Some of them were very learned, but their habits were very bestial. Their religion in its worship was the worst form of prostitution. In other words, the Bible describes their sin as so low down and beastly that the land was ready to spew them out of its mouth.

Verses 10-15

XX

THE MIRACULOUS PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN AND EVENTS AT GILGAL

Joshua 1:10-5:15

This section commences at Joshua 1:10 and extends to Joshua 5. We will make more rapid progress in the book, having gotten through with the preliminaries. The theme is, miraculous passage of the Jordan and the marvelous events that occurred at Gilgal after they passed the Jordan.

1. Analyze Joshua’s commandment to the people.

Ana. – (1) He commanded them to get ready to cross the Jordan in three days.

(2) He commanded that the armed men of the two tribes located east of the Jordan, the Reubenites, Gadites and the rest of the tribes help to conquer the lands on the east side.

2. What word is repeatedly stressed by Joshua in this command to the two and a half tribes? What use previously made of this word by Moses and will be made of it by the writers of both Old and New Testaments?

Ans. – The word "rest." We find that Moses uses that word in Deuteronomy 25:19; Deuteronomy 25:19 th verse where he says, "When you have been established in Canaan and God has given you rest." We find the same word employed in Psalm 95, where there is a reference to those who did not enter into the rest because of their disobedience. They died by the wayside. And in Hebrews 3:7; Hebrews 4:13, there is a continuous discussion of that "rest" as applied to Joshua the type of Jesus Christ. It will be very interesting for you to study that in Hebrews particularly, because in it lies the cream of the discussion of the New Testament sabbath.

3. What condition was prescribed by Moses in allotting territory east of the Jordan to the two and a half tribes, and what solemn promises had they made?

Ans. – If you will turn to Numbers 32:20-24, you will find that Moses, when these people asked to have the east part as their part, told them that the only condition upon which it would be granted was that when the Jordan was crossed they should send these tribes and help to conquer the other land, and they made a solemn promise to Moses that when the time came they would do that very thing

4. How did they respond to that promise, and what the later evidence of a fair fulfilment of it?

Ans. – You learn from your lesson Joshua 1:16-18, that they readily recalled what they had promised to Moses and promptly announced their Willingness to do what they said they would do. If you turn to Joshua 22:1-8, you will find that at the end of the conquest Joshua gives them a receipt in full of having kept their promise to the letter.

5. How long were they thus away from their own homes, wives and children and property, that is, the men of the Reubenites, Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and what comment do you make on this fidelity?

Ans. – Generally, I will say that they were away from their wives and children and property seven years. And the comment is that there is no parallel to this in the history of the world. All the able-bodied men leaving their homes, wives and children and property and going away armed to engage in a terrible war that was to be prosecuted west of the river, fulfilling their engagement to the letter before they ever go back and enjoy their rest as the other tribes were now prepared to do.

6. What event preceded the passage of the Jordan, and what the salient points of the story?
Ans. – This event was the sending out of the two spies by Joshua to find out the condition of the country and report back to Joshua. The salient points of the story are: (1) When these two men went into Jericho they were received at this lodging-house of a harlot. Why? Probably if they had gone to one of the regular inns or caravansaries they would have been apprehended by the officers of the king. But the true reason was that this woman, because she believed in Jehovah, invited them to come to her house. (2) What the evidences of her faith? These evidences are as follows:

(a) What she did. She received, lodged, sheltered, and protected the messengers of God’s people because they were God’s people. That was her motive, illustrating the words of our Lord in his address to his apostles, "When I send you into the city, you go to a house, and if there be a son of peace in that house, let your peace rest on that house" (Matt. 10). And where he further says, "Whosoever receiveth you receiveth me, and whosoever receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward." Now, this woman did so receive these people.

(b) What she said. Read exactly what she said, Joshua 2:8-11: "And before they were laid down she came up unto them upon the roof; and she said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you, when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things our hearts did melt because of you; ’for the Lord your God he is in heaven above and in earth beneath." Now, that is what she said. Then notice further (c) what she did as an evidence of her faith.

She asked that as she had sheltered them as messengers of God’s people, when they came to take possession of Jericho, they would exempt her and her family from the doom that would fall upon the city. And they gave her a duty to perform as a token. First, that she would bring her kindred into her house and stay there. The walls of Jericho would fall in the other parts of the city but not in that part. Second, that she was to hang a scarlet cord out of the window through which she had let down the spies to enable them to escape over the wall. The binding of the scarlet thread in the window was the token.

(d) The fourth evidence is found in Hebrews 11:31, and James 2:25. Another salient point in connection with the story of the spies is that this woman married an Israelite and became an ancestress of Boaz, David, and our Lord. We read about that when we come to Ruth and when we read the genealogy in the New Testament. The next incident is the great sermon preached by Spurgeon on the text, "And she bound the scarlet thread in the window." He puts a good deal of stress on the "scarlet" as referring to the blood of salvation. The last point is, the spies returned and reported to Joshua that their enemies were panic stricken.

7. What the arrangement or program of crossing the Jordan?

Ans. – (1) They must sanctify themselves. That means that they were to perform the ablutions that are required in that kind of setting apart to the service of God, and offer the sacrifice

(2) That the ark must precede the marching by a sabbath day’s journey, 2,000 cubits.

(3) That God himself would that day magnify Joshua in the eyes of the people as he had magnified Moses at the passage of the Red Sea.

(4) That God’s presence would be manifested in marvelous power.

(5) The cutting off of the waters of the Jordan, not dividing them as the Red Sea was divided, but cutting them off.

(6) That Israel should pass over safely.

(7) That a memorial should be erected of that passage.

8. Describe the execution of this program and the effect on their enemies, Joshua 5:1.

Ans. – It is of thrilling interest that just as at the passage of the Red Sea they were to stand still and see the power of the Lord, so here. That was something which God would do, not they themselves. Just as soon as the priests, carrying the ark (a sabbath day’s journey), touched the edge of the swollen waters of the Jordan, that very moment, as if a knife had been let down from heaven, the Jordan was cut in two, and all the waters below flowed on to the Dead Sea and all the waters coming down from above, that mighty rush of the "Descender," were stayed there and massed up and the backwater extended for over thirty miles. By the breath of the Almighty, that turbulent tide in the day of its flood, flowing over that down grade, stopped right there, damned up, not by a wall, but by the Word of God, and there stood the priests in silence, carrying the ark of God. As soon as the way was open, the priests standing still, the whole of that mighty host of 3,000,000 people with all of their animals and goods passed over that empty bed of the river.

Joshua commanded one representative of each tribe to take a rock out of the bed of the river and right where the priests had been standing in the bed of the river, each one of the men should take a rock on his shoulder, and they should carry those stones, and they did just that way. Here came twelve representatives and took up twelve huge rocks and carried them ahead of the column and never put them down until they got to the place where they were going to lodge, and there those stones were placed together as an everlasting memorial of that deliverance. The effect upon the enemy was that it intensified their panic. God said that those Canaanite inhabitants should know that he was God and the story of that divine presence and the display of his power is circled around the world through all the succeeding ages.

9. How do you reconcile Joshua 4:9, with Joshua 4:20?

Ans. – Joshua 4:9, says that Joshua took stones and set up a column right where the priests had stood in the bed of the river, and Joshua 4:20, says that they took the stones across the river and a memorial was erected at the place where they stopped. There are only two ways of reconciling those two statements. One is that the pillar that was erected by Joshua where the priests stood was done not by the command of God, but appropriately done to mark the spot where the priests stood. It is not said that they used the twelve memorial stones carried by the representatives of the tribes, to build that structure. A good many commentaries say there were two monuments erected, one in the bed of the river and another in the camp where they remained a long while, even years. Now, that is one explanation and the more probable one. Another explanation is, that in reading Joshua 4:9, you read it this way, "and Joshua set up the twelve stones taken from the midst of the Jordan where the feet of the priests had stood who bare the Ark of the Covenant." That is a simple statement of what is going to be more elaborately stated in Joshua 4:20 and provides for only one monument The first is a brief statement and the second a more elaborate statement. I will leave you to wrestle with the apparent contradiction.

10. What evidences in the later prophets that Israel misused this memorial of Gilgal by making it a place of idolatry? Give a similar case.

Ans. – (1) You will find in Hosea 4:15; Hosea 9:15, and Amos 4:4-5.

(2) The similar case was the case of the brazen serpent. The brazen serpent that had been lifted up in the wilderness was kept as a memorial, but in Hezekiah’s time the people began to burn incense to it and Hezekiah broke it to pieces, saying, "Nehushtan," it is only a piece of brass.

11. What the educational uses of this memorial and what similar use of a preceding memorial?

Ans. – This section tells us in Joshua 4:21-24, that when the children asked, "Why do you bring these rocks from the river? Why do you set them up here?" they should diligently teach their children that it commemorated the great power of God in cutting off the waters of the Jordan, that his people might pass over in safety. What similar use of a preceding memorial? You will find it in Exodus 12:26-27. They were to eat the first Passover standing with their loins girt about them. Now, after that in their later history the first thing little children will say, "This is a strange dinner, being bitter herbs, roasted lambs, and eating it standing." Then you may say to your children, "This is the Lord’s Passover." I think these two incidents about the educational use of the memorials contains a very fine lesson showing the duty of parents whenever a child asks, "Why these monuments?" The first time I ever noticed the Fourth of July, I asked, "Why, what does this mean?" A child naturally asks "why" about Christmas. And a stranger looking at Bunker Hill Monument will ask, "Why this monument?" In Austin, near the Capitol, there is a monument that commemorates the Alamo. On the battlefield of San Jacinto is one, and on my pocketbook is inscribed what is written on the sides of that monument.

12. What the name of the place where the memorial was erected, its location, and how long did that place remain headquarters of the nation?

Ans. – The place derived its name from an event that took place there, viz.: circumcision. Gilgal was in the upper part of Judea and not a great way, only a few miles, from Jericho, and for years the Ark rested there, and it was the place of assembly for the nation. It remained until we come to Joshua 18; there, after the conquest, Shiloh is selected as the headquarters until the ark was captured by the Philistines. Later that ark was brought to Jerusalem, as their headquarters throughout the rest of their history.

13. What great events happened in that first camp?

Ans. – (1) The males of the younger generation were circumcised. They had not circumcised any children during the thirty-eight years of wanderings. The old generation had passed away and everybody born in the thirty-eight years, of course, was uncircumcised. Now at that place they were circumcised.

(2) The second great event that took place was that their manna ceased. For forty years that manna had been coming down from heaven) but now they were eating of the new harvest of the Promised Land, and the temporary provision for their food ceased when it was no longer necessary; the cessation of the manna which was a standing miracle for forty years.

(3) The third great event was that there they kept the Passover. No Passover had been kept since they left Mount Sinai.

(4) The most important event that happened there was the appearance to Joshua of a pre-manifestation of Christ, a man with a drawn sword, the captain of the hosts of the Lord. In other words, Joshua, the type, meets face to face, in pre-manifestation, Christ, the antitype.

14. In the meantime what the state of Jericho, and why was the enemy idle while Joshua was remaining so long at Gilgal?

Ans. – See Joshua 5:11; Joshua 6:1. We learn from these passages of scripture, why. The first says the people of Jericho were under an awful fear of the people whose God could open that river, and the second reason is that they had shut their gates; that Jericho was sealed up because the Israelites were lying so near.

15. Describe and explain the meeting of Joshua, the type, with the pre-manifestation of Christ, the antitype.

Ans. – Now, that explanation is given in Joshua 5:13-15. Joshua going his rounds meets a man standing with a drawn sword, who approached him and said, "Are you for us or against us?" The man said, "I am the captain of the host of Jehovah." Later it says the Lord spoke to Joshua, but it means Jehovah. The object of the meeting of the captain on earth with the captain in heaven was to arrange the program for the capture of Jericho. As for the things that would follow that in overcoming the enemy, the people were to do nothing active. Jericho was to be taken by the Almighty and everything in it was devoted, put under ban, consecrated to Jehovah; the inhabitants to die, the property to go to the service of the sanctuary. This is he who later becomes captain of our salvation, who is known in the New Testament as the rider of the white horse, going forth, having written on his thigh, "King of kings and Lord of lords." This pre-manifestation of Christ outlines Joshua’s campaign, establishes them, God opening the way.

16. Now here is a question. It says, Joshua 5:9, "This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you." Now, what was this rolling away of the reproach of Egypt?

Ans. – "The reproach of Egypt" was the charge they made that Jehovah Was not able to deliver Israel into the Promised Land. Now, since he has delivered them, he has "rolled away the reproach of Egypt" from off them. (Exodus 32:12; Numbers 14:13-16; Deuteronomy 9:28).