Judges 5:24-27

“Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women. He asked for water, and she gave him milk; in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk. Her hand reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman’s hammer. She struck Sisera, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple. At her feet he sank, he fell; there he lay. At her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell–dead!”

The subject of assassination, one would suppose, should not admit of much diversity of sentiment; but there are those even in the Christian world, who think that in extreme cases, where the death of a tyrant would put an end to grievous oppressions and desolating wars, that the dagger of an assassin might be employed. I am not aware that any would attempt to vindicate this sentiment by an appeal to Scripture; they would justify it rather on reasonings from expediency. But it is certain that, though in most cases where such actions are recorded they are mentioned with abhorrence, there are some instances wherein they are mentioned with approbation and applause. Such was the case of Ehud, who stabbed Eglon king of Moab; and such was the case before us, where Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, destroyed Sisera, whom she had received under her protection, and to whom she had administered every friendly aid.

The account which is given us of this transaction must be considered in a two-fold view:

I. As a historic fact.

The fact itself is set forth in the foregoing chapter.

Jabin, king of Canaan, had mightily oppressed the children of Israel for twenty years. At last they cried unto God; who directed Deborah, a prophetess, to take immediate measures for their deliverance. She commissioned Barak to raise ten thousand men; and promised in God’s name, that Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army, should be drawn to him and delivered into his hands.

The outcome corresponded with the prediction; Sisera was defeated; and he fled away on foot, and sought refuge in the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, with whom he was at peace. Jael received him most kindly, supplied him with necessary refreshment, covered him with a mantle, and gave him every reason to expect safety under her protection. But, when he was asleep, she took a hammer, and drove a long nail through his temples and through his head; and then went out to the door of her tent, and brought in Barak to see his enemy dead upon the floor!

And what are we to think of this fact?

Supposing it to be unauthorized by any commission from God, we cannot hesitate to pronounce it one of the vilest crimes that ever was perpetrated! Some have endeavored to extenuate it, by saying, that she did not promise not to betray him. But this is a mere subterfuge; whether she promised or not in words, her whole conduct was equivalent to the strongest promise; and she was guilty of the basest treachery that we can find on record in the annals of the world! She murdered a man who was at peace with her, and whom she had undertaken to protect!

Thus strongly have we spoken on the occasion, in order that our subsequent views may not be misinterpreted.

Here a question naturally arises: If the action was so base, how does it come to be so highly commended? How does it befit a prophetess, to pronounce such an eulogy upon her, as to call her “the most blessed of women,” for doing that which was in itself such a flagrant act of injustice and cruelty?

I answer, (as we before answered in the case of Ehud,) that God is not bound by the laws which he has given to us; and that he may dispense with those obligations which men owe to each other, in order to advance his own purposes in the way he sees fit. He may, as we before observed, order Abraham to slay his son; and therefore he might equally order Jael to slay Sisera; and might make known his mind with equal certainty to her as to him.

And, that he did give her this commission, we can have no doubt; for, on account of Barak’s unbelief, Deborah told him that he should lose part of the honor which he might have acquired; and that “God would give Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Moreover, this whole chapter is a tribute of praise to God on account of the transaction, wherein Jael in particular is celebrated as having performed a most acceptable service to the Lord.

Our proud hearts are apt to rise up in rebellion against God on this occasion; and to ask how such an order could consist with his perfections? But let us be careful how we presume “to reprove God, Job 40:2.” We forget that he is the Creator of all, and “may do what he will with his own, Matthew 20:15;” and that “he gives no account of any of his matters, Job 33:13.” Let us remember too, that we are no more than mere worms, which, as creatures, have no claim to existence for one moment; and, as sinners, deserve to be in Hell; and that, consequently, it is not possible for God to do any injustice to us.

If, however, we still are disposed to quarrel with this dispensation, the answer of Paul to such objectors must be resorted to, “Nay but, O man, who are you that replies against God?” Consider the objections to which that reply was made; and it will be found abundantly sufficient for every other objection that can be raised, Romans 9:16-24.

Let us next consider this account,

II. As an emblematic record.

The words which close this divine hymn, clearly show that we are to consider the history in this view. Compare verse 31 with Psalm 83:2-4; Psalm 83:9-10.

1. The transaction was an emblematic representation of the judgments that await God’s enemies.

Sisera’s army was, humanly speaking, invincible, especially by such a handful of men as Barak could muster, and even the greater part of them unarmed, except with such weapons as they might hastily collect, Judges 4:13 with 5:8. Indeed his mother and friends had not the least doubt of a successful outcome to the conflict. But when his time was come, he and his army were wholly destroyed; and the very steps which he took for the destruction of God’s people, God himself overruled to effect his overthrow, Judges 4:6-7.

Thus it shall be with all the oppressors and persecutors of God’s Church and people; however potent they may be, and however secure they may think themselves, “their judgment now of a long time lingers not, and their damnation slumbers not! 2 Peter 2:3.”

They exult in the thought of what they will effect; but God “laughs them to scorn, for he sees that their day is coming. Compare Psalm 2:3-4 with 37:12, 13.” The very plans which they concert for the destruction of the Church, God will often overrule for their own destruction, Micah 4:11-12. Or, if no particular judgment comes upon them in this world, the time is quickly coming, when they would be glad to have “the rocks and mountains fall upon them, to cover them from the wrath “of an avenging God!” They think themselves strong now; but “will they be strong in the day that HE shall deal with them, and will they thunder with a voice like his?” O that they were wise and would consider this, before they “be suddenly destroyed and without a remedy!”

2. The transaction was an emblematic representation of the triumphs that are prepared for the Lord’s people.

The Church at large, or individuals in it, may be reduced, like Israel of old, to great distress; but they shall surely triumph at last. However weak you may be in yourselves, you have no cause to fear; for God is on your side; and will allow neither sin nor Satan to have dominion over you, Romans 6:14; Romans 16:20. You need not direction or assistance from man; you need not say to any human being, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go, Judges 4:8;” for God is with you; and “through him you shall be more than conquerors.” His voice to every one of you is like that of Deborah to Barak, “Up, for this is the day that the Lord has delivered your enemies into your hand! Has not the Lord gone out before you? Judges 4:14.” The very “stars in their courses shall fight for you, verse 20,” rather than that you shall be subdued.

This is the testimony of all the prophets; nor shall anyone that trusts in it be disappointed of his hope. See how the sun bursts through the clouds that obscured it in the early morn, and shines forth in its might; so shall you rise above all your enemies, and shine forth in everlasting glory! verse 31.

The subject addresses itself particularly:

1. To those who are in affliction.

What was the remedy to which Israel had recourse, when their affliction pressed sore upon them? It was prayer, “they cried unto the Lord.” And is not the same remedy open to us? Is it not also as effectual as ever? Is the Lord’s hand shortened that it cannot save, or his ear heavy that it cannot hear? He has given the direction, “Call upon me in the time of trouble, and I will hear you, and you shall glorify me!” “Nor will he ever allow any to seek his face in vain.”

2. To those who have been delivered from affliction.

Delay not to render thanks to your Almighty Deliverer. Whatever means he may have used, remember that HE is the first great Cause, “the Author and Giver of every good and perfect gift.” Stir up yourselves then to glorify him, like Deborah of old, “Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake; utter a song!” Call to mind also the various circumstances both of your affliction and deliverance; that nothing maybe omitted which may enhance the delivering mercy in your eyes, or give glory to your heavenly Benefactor.

This is a matter of great importance; if you rest in general acknowledgments, you will feel but weak emotions of gratitude. But if you search out occasions of praise, you will soon be filled with wonder and amazement at the mercies given unto you!

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Judges 3:20-21

“Ehud then approached him (king Eglon) while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his summer palace and said, “I have a message from God for you.” As the king rose from his seat, Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king’s belly!”

God frequently is pleased to make use of his enemies for the correction of his own people; but when he has accomplished by them the purposes of his grace, he then calls them also into judgment for the acts which they have performed. In executing his will they have no respect to him, but follow only the wicked inclinations of their own hearts; and therefore he recompenses them, not as obedient servants, but according to the real motives of their actions.

Thus he dealt with Sennacherib, who was only gratifying his own ambition, while, as a sword in Jehovah’s hand, he was inflicting punishment on Israel. And thus he dealt with Eglon also, whom he had raised up to power for the purpose of chastising his offending people. Yet there is something very remarkable in the way in which God requited the wickedness of Eglon, and in which he delivered his people out of his hand. The man whom God raised up as his instrument, was Ehud; who, by a stratagem, effected the death of Eglon.

We will briefly set before you,

I. The conduct of Ehud.

Eglon, king of Moab, having subdued Israel, himself resided in Canaan, in the city of Palm-trees; and Ehud was sent, as the representative of Israel, to offer to him their accustomed tribute. But Ehud, hoping for an opportunity to assassinate Eglon, took a dagger with him; and, after having presented the tribute and left the city with his attendants, went back alone to Eglon, pretending to have a secret errand to him. Eglon ordered all other people to depart from his presence, and thus gave Ehud a good opportunity of accomplishing his design. Ehud availed himself of it with great success; being left-handed, he drew forth the dagger without any suspicion, and plunged it, even the handle together with the blade, into the belly of Eglon, who instantly fell down dead. Ehud then retired from the secret chamber where the transaction had taken place, and locked the doors after him, and went composedly away, as though nothing particular had happened; and thus effected his escape; and instantly stirred up Israel to cast off the yoke of Moab, before their enemies should have had time to concert their measures under another leader.

Now to form a correct estimate of this action, we must consider it in two different points of view:

1. Ehud’s conduct, as voluntarily undertaken.

In this view it was altogether indefensible. Treachery and murder can never be justified! Though Eglon was a usurper and a cruel oppressor, still the Israelites professed subjection to him; and Ehud went as their messenger, to present to Eglon their acknowledgments of that subjection. If he had chosen to cast off the yoke of Moab, he was at liberty to do so in a way of open warfare; but he had no right to become an assassin; nor could the end which he proposed, sanctify the means he used; the means were wrong; and he had “no right to do evil that good might come.”

2. Ehud’s conduct, as divinely commissioned.

No created power could have authorized Abraham to slay his son, or Israel to plunder Egypt, and extirpate the inhabitants of Canaan; nor could any man have executed such things of his own mind, without contracting very heinous guilt.

But God is not bound by the rules which he has imposed on us; he may act towards his creatures as he sees best, and may employ instruments in any way that he pleases; nor would even an angel contract defilement in executing any commission that God had given him. An angel slew in one night all the first-born in the land of Egypt; and on another occasion, a hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrians; yet no one thinks of imputing guilt to him on that account.

Just so, Ehud, if appointed to the work by God, might innocently effect it in the way he did. Jehu was commissioned by God to dethrone Ahab, and destroy his family; and, though he was punished afterwards because he was not actuated by a befitting zeal for the glory of God—yet for the action itself, he was rewarded even to the fourth generation. “The LORD said to Jehu: Because you have done well in accomplishing what is right in my eyes and have done to the house of Ahab all I had in mind to do, your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation,” 2 Kings 10:30.”

Precisely thus may Ehud at this moment be receiving a reward from God for that act of his, which, under other circumstances, would have been highly sinful. And there is reason to believe that he was directed by God in that action; since not only were his wisdom, courage, and success, beyond all that could have been expected in a merely human enterprise; but we are expressly told that “God raised up this man to be the deliverer of his people, verse 15.”

We must not however imagine, that his conduct is to be followed as a precedent; for no man can dare to follow it, unless he has infallible evidence that he is called of God to do so; but, as no man can expect such a call at this time, no man can without the deepest criminality presume to imitate his example.

Having thrown what light we can on the dubious conduct of Ehud, we proceed to suggest:

II. Some reflections arising from Ehud’s conduct.

Supposing Ehud to have been divinely commissioned, he might well say to Eglon, “I have a message from God to you!” At all events his language leads us to observe,

1. That God does send messages to mortal men.

The whole creation is delivering to us, as it were, a message from God, and conveying to us the knowledge of his perfections, Romans 1:20; Psalm 19:1-4.

Every providential dispensation also has some important lesson to communicate. The mercies of God declare his goodness to us, and invite us to repentance, Romans 2:4, and his judgments are intended to reveal to us some truths which we did not previously discern, “Hear the rod,” says the prophet, “and Him who has appointed it! Micah 6:9.”

But it is in his Word more especially that God comes down to commune with sinful man. His Gospel is so called from the very circumstance of its being a message of mercy, or, as the word means, good tidings from God to man; and ministers are ambassadors from him, sent to beseech you in his name to accept reconciliation with him through the death of his Son. Indeed this message contains the substance of all that we have to speak to you in God’s name; and from hence it is called by God himself, “the ministry of reconciliation.”

Behold then this day we come unto you and say, “We have a message from God to you!” He sends us this day to invite you to come to him for all the blessings of salvation, and to receive them freely at his hands, “without money, and without price! Isaiah 55:1-3.”

2. That, by whoever God’s messages are delivered—we should attend to them with the profoundest reverence.

Though Eglon was a king, and Ehud an oppressed servant, yes, though Eglon was a heathen that did not worship the true God—yet, the very instant that Ehud announced that he had a message from God unto him, he rose up from his seat, that he might receive it with the greater reverence.

And does not this idolatrous heathen reproach us, who, when God’s servants are delivering messages to us in his name, scarcely pay any attention to them, or perhaps fall asleep in the midst of them? Behold, how Israel listened to the reading of God’s Word in the days of Nehemiah, Nehemiah 8:3; Nehemiah 8:5-6; that is the way in which we should read or hear the Word of God at this time.

We should not come to the house of God as critics, to sit in judgment; or as curious people, to be entertained; but as sinners, to “hear what the Lord God will say concerning us.” Beautiful is the example of Cornelius and his family, Acts 10:33; they did not regard Peter as a man, but as a messenger from God; and in like manner should we also “receive the Word, not as the word of man, but, as it is in truth, the Word of God! 1 Thessalonians 2:13.” O that the spirit of Samuel were more visible in us, 1 Samuel 3:10, and that we sought instruction from the word, only in order to obey it, John 9:36.”

3. That we should ever be prepared for whatever message God may send.

Who can tell but that as his message to Eglon was a message of death, so he may send to us this day, saying, “Set your house in order; for you shall die and not live!” He needs not the aid of an assassin to take away our lives; there are millions of ways in which death may seize upon us!

As for our security, the more secure we are in our own minds, the more likely are we to receive such a message from God, 1 Thessalonians 5:3. It was when the rich fool was looking forward to years of enjoyment, that God said to him, “This night your soul shall be required of you!” And it was when Job fondly expected that he should “die in his nest,” Job 29:18 (see also Psalm 30:6-7,) that God pulled down his nest, and despoiled him of all that he had!

Let us not then promise ourselves an hour’s continuance even of life itself, Proverbs 27:1; but be standing “with our loins girt, and our lamps trimmed, that at whatever hour our Lord may come, he may find us watching”.

Application

This may be more appropriate or more general; in the former case, a message may be delivered as from God himself to Oppressors, and the Oppressed; (to awe the one, as Isaiah 10:5-18 and encourage the other, as Isaiah 10:24-27.) In the latter case, an Address may be made to the Careless, the Backsliding, and the Faithful, with the prefatory remark to each, “I have a message from God to you!”

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Judges 2:1-5

“The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.’ Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.” When the angel of the LORD had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud, and they called that place Bokim. There they offered sacrifices to the LORD.”

We admire the condescension of Jehovah towards his chosen people, in that he raised up prophets to instruct them, and frequently sent angels also to minister unto them. But the person who is here called “the Angel of the Lord,” seems to have been no other than “the Angel of the Covenant,” the Lord himself! It is certain that Jehovah did sometimes assume the appearance of an angel; as when he visited Abraham, and informed him of the judgments that were about to be inflicted on Sodom and Gomorrah. Just so, it is clear that the person spoken of in our text was no created angel; for if he had, how could he with any propriety use such language?

It was not a creature that brought the Israelites out of Egypt; but Jehovah.

It was not a creature that made a covenant with them; but Jehovah.

It was not a creature to whom they were accountable for their disobedience, or whose threatened dereliction they had such reason to deplore, but Jehovah. The circumstance of his being said to come up from Gilgal, which is supposed to militate against this interpretation, rather confirms it; for it was in Gilgal, near to Jericho, that this same divine person had appeared to Joshua, as an armed warrior. That he was Jehovah, cannot be doubted; because he allowed Joshua to worship him; and even commanded him to put off his shoe from his foot, because the very ground whereon he stood was, by reason of his presence, rendered holy. In his conversation with Joshua he had called himself “the Captain of the Lord’s army;” and therefore there was a particular propriety in his appearing now to the people, to inquire, “Why they had not carried his orders into effect,” and to threaten that he would fight for them no longer. Besides, at Gilgal the people had revived the ordinance of circumcision, and had kept a Passover unto the Lord; in both which ordinances they had consecrated themselves to God afresh, and engaged to serve him, as his redeemed people. In coming therefore as from Gilgal, the Angel reminded them of their solemn engagements, and humbled them the more for their violation of them.

The particular address of the Lord to them, together with the effect it produced upon them, leads us to consider:

I. The DANGER of indecision.

The command which God had given to the Israelites was plain and express; they were “utterly to destroy the Canaanites, and to make no covenant with them, Deuteronomy 7:2;” and on their performance of this condition, was suspended the continuance of God’s interposition in their favor. But they were not careful to execute the divine command; and therefore God threatened that the Canaanites, whom they had presumed to spare, should become a lasting source of pain to them; that they would gradually draw them into sin, and ultimately become instruments of inflicting on them the vengeance they had merited!

Such is the sin which God’s professing people still commit.

The command to every one of us is to make no league with any one of our spiritual enemies.

Not with the world. On the contrary:

We are to “overcome it.”

We are to “come out from worldly people, and be separate.”

We are to be “dead to” all its cares and pleasures.

We are to be “crucified to it, and esteeming it as crucified unto us.”

We are “not to be of it, any more than Jesus Christ himself was of it.”

With respect to the flesh also and our corrupt nature, no truce must be made with it, even for a moment!

We must “mortify our members upon earth.”

We must “crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts.”

We must not spare one evil desire, though it should be dear as “a right eye,” or useful as “a right hand.”

We must “pluck it out with abhorrence, or cut it off, and cast it from us.”

We must slay our lusts.

We must “show them no mercy! Deuteronomy 7:2.”

Our hatred of them must be irreconcilable and incessant.

But what is our state? Do we find this zeal in ourselves? Instead of proceeding to the utter extirpation of our spiritual enemies, are we not satisfied if they do not reign? Are we not contented to let them exist, provided they keep themselves concealed from public view?

What then is the declaration of God unto us? Does he not warn us, that the evils which we spare shall become “as thorns in our sides, and prove a snare unto our souls?” And do we not find that it is even so in our daily experience?

Let the person who still associates with the men of this world, say, whether he does not find that they are a clog to him in his spiritual course? Whether his endeavors to please them do not lead him sometimes into sinful compliances, and his fear of displeasing them do not keep him from testifying against their evil ways? Will any say that he has found it practical for “light to have communion with darkness, or Christ with Belial;” or that the soul can flourish while it is engaged in such a foolish attempt as that of reconciling the services of God and Mammon?

Let the person who is still too deeply immersed in the cares or pleasures of the world, say, whether he has not often been led to do harm to his conscience in order to prosecute his ends, and to adopt some practices which in his heart he disapproved?

Let the person who harbors some besetting sin, ask, whether it has not often risen up with a force that was almost irresistible, and nearly, if not altogether, involved him in some flagrant transgression?

Let the person in whom pride, or lewdness, or covetousness, or passion is allowed to dwell, answer this question. He knows but little of his own heart, who does not know that sin is a flame, which, if not extinguished, may speedily “set on fire his whole nature, James 3:6 with Deuteronomy 32:22,” and “burn to the lowest Hell.”

Lastly, Let the person who listens to the temptations of Satan, say whether there is any way of making him flee, but by perpetual resistance? James 4:7.

If such then be the danger of indecision, let us consider,

II. The DUTY of those who are convicted of the sin of indecision.

Two things were produced by the declarations of the Angel in the bosoms of all the congregation of Israel; which also our own experience calls for; namely,

1. A humiliation of soul before God.

The people “lifted up their voice and wept.” And who among us has not abundant reason to follow their example? Whether we consider our sin or our punishment, we have but too much reason to weep. Indecision is not so light a sin as some imagine, Job 31:25; Job 31:28; it shows an insincerity of heart, which is most odious in itself, and most offensive to God. See in what a light the Israelites beheld it, when once a conviction of it was brought home to their minds! Is not the sparing of inveterate lusts as wicked as sparing the wicked Canaanites? Does it not betray an equal lack:

of reverence for God,

of love to his name,

and of zeal for his honor?

Behold then, the duty of every one among us: “Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into heaviness; humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, and he shall lift you up! James 4:9-10.”

Nor does the threatened punishment afford us less occasion to weep; for a subjection to sin is the greatest evil that can befall us! If God should once say, “He is joined to idols; let him alone;” it would be a heavier judgment to us than immediate death and immediate damnation; because we should live only to “treasure up wrath against the day of wrath,” and should perish at last under an accumulated weight of misery to all eternity! O that the dread of such a punishment might humble us all in dust and ashes!

2. An application to God through the medium of sacrifice.

“They sacrificed there unto the Lord;” and had recourse to the blood of sprinkling for the remission of their sin. Though their weeping was very general, and very bitter, insomuch that the name of the place, which was Shiloh, was called Bochim, or Weepers, from that circumstance—yet did they not hope to pacify their offended God with tears; they knew that an atonement was necessary; and they sought him therefore in his appointed way.

O that we might learn from them! Humiliation is necessary, but it is not sufficient! Tears, even if we could shed rivers of them, could never wash away a single sin. The blood of atonement is necessary, for “without shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.” We must apply to the Lord Jesus Christ, and “go to God through him.” We must acknowledge our obligation to his sacrifice for all the mercy and forbearance we have already experienced; and must look to it as the only means of our reconciliation with God. It is his blood, and “his blood alone, that can ever cleanse us from our sin!”

Here I would particularly remind you that the sin laid to the charge of Israel, was not of commission, but of omission; not some flagrant enormity, but a lukewarmness and neglect of duty; yet did they see the need of a sacrifice to atone for that.

In like manner, though we should have no guilt imputed to us but that of omission and defect—yet must we apply to the blood of sprinkling, and seek for pardon through that one Sacrifice which was once offered for us on the cross.

Learn then from hence,

1. The value of a faithful monitor.

We do not like faithful admonitions, even from those whose special duty it is to reprove sin. We are ready to account them harsh and severe. But what is the office which a friendly monitor performs? Is it not that which the Angel of the Covenant himself executed, yes, and came from Heaven on purpose to perform? But it may be said that we alarm men, and make them melancholy. This is true; we show them their guilt and danger, and try to bring them to a state of humiliation on account of it, and to an affiance in the Lord Jesus Christ for the pardon of it. But is this an evil? If the whole congregation were affected precisely as the whole congregation of Israel were, every one weeping for his sins, and seeking the remission of them through the great Sacrifice—would it be a matter for regret? No! We would to God that this very place might this day deserve the name of Bochim; and that the remembrance of it might never be obliterated from your minds! We are sure that the congregation of Israel felt themselves deeply indebted to Him who thus sought their welfare; and we have no doubt but that, however an ungodly world may hate our reproofs, there is not a contrite sinner in the universe who will not regard his monitor as a father, and “receive him as an Angel of God, even as Christ Jesus, Galatians 4:14.” They will not hesitate to thank him, who, by bringing them to weep here—has kept them from weeping and wailing and gnashing their teeth in Hell forever!

2. The danger of forgetting the admonitions that have already been given to us.

During the days of Joshua and the elders that outlived Joshua, the Israelites maintained some measure of steadfastness in their duty to God. But afterwards they fearfully declined, and brought upon themselves the most afflictive judgments. The whole remainder of the chapter from whence our text is taken, elucidates this truth. The impressions which were now made upon them gradually wore away; and the people relapsed into their former state of supineness. Of the unreasonableness of their conduct they were fully convinced; for, when the Angel asked them, “Why have you done this?” they could not offer one word in extenuation of their guilt. But when they ceased to listen to the voice of conscience, they proceeded from one wickedness to another, “until there was no remedy! 2 Chronicles 36:15-17.”

And how often is this seen among ourselves! Many are deeply affected on some particular occasion; they will weep, and pray, and think of the Savior. But in process of time they lose all their good impressions, and “return with the dog to his vomit, and the sow that was washed to the wallowing in the mire.”

May the Lord grant that it may not prove thus with us! May our “goodness not be as the dew, or as the morning cloud that passes away;” but rather as the sun, which shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day!

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Judges 1:6-7

“Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes. Then Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.”

There are times and seasons afforded to us for the performance of our duty, which, if they be once lost, can never afterwards be recovered. It was thus with the Israelites in the invasion of Canaan; if they had followed up their successes with befitting zeal, their difficulties would have been comparatively light; but at no time did they advance with that ardor which they should have manifested in such a cause. Joshua had reproved them for their indolence Joshua 18:3, and quickened them in some degree; but still, after his death, and fifteen years after their first invasion of Canaan, no one of the tribes had complete possession of the lot assigned to them.

The Israelites had increased, and now wanted the whole of their inheritance; but the Canaanites had increased also, and, possessing still their strongholds, were able to cope with Israel in battle. Now therefore the different tribes found the bitter consequences of their past indifference; and, as it would seem, were afraid to resume a warfare with such potent enemies. However, after having consulted God, Judah, by divine direction, took the lead, and, in conjunction with the tribe of Simeon, renewed the conflict with the Canaanites. God gave them success, and delivered into their hand Adoni-bezek, one of the most powerful of the kings of Canaan. They treated Adoni-bezek with great severity; and their conduct towards him forms the subject of our present consideration. We shall consider,

I. The particular dispensation here recorded.

The conduct of king Adoni-Bezek had been most cruel.

What occasions he had had for waging war against seventy kings, we know not; ambition never lacks a pretext for its bloody projects; but to insult over their misfortunes in such a manner as to maim their people, and compel them, like dogs, to gather up scraps from under his table for their subsistence, argued a degree of cruelty, which one could scarcely have conceived to exist in a rational being. One might suppose it possible that some particular provocation might have caused him to offer such an indignity to a single individual; but when such conduct was pursued towards so many vanquished kings, it manifestly proceeded only from his barbarous and brutal disposition.

Here we are constrained to acknowledge how empty is human greatness; how uncertain the continuance of those honors in which men so vainly pride themselves; and how often it happens that pre-eminence in station leads only to a sad pre-eminence in distress and misery! Nor can we forbear to notice, what desolation and trouble one ambitious tyrant may produce in the earth!

While we see the dispositions of this man exhibited in such awful colors, let us not suppose that we ourselves are altogether exempt from them. The truth is, that these wicked dispositions themselves are common to every man, though they have not attained in all the same maturity, or brought forth in all such visible and deadly fruits. We cannot but have seen that children feel a pleasure in vexing and tyrannizing over those who are weaker than themselves; and, as we grow up in life, a fondness for manifesting superiority and exercising despotic sway increases; and, in proportion as our opportunities for displaying these hateful qualities are enlarged, our evil tendencies become augmented and confirmed.

How conspicuous is this in the great men of the earth, who can spread desolation over whole provinces without remorse, and invade, as we have seen, even neutral and friendly kingdoms for no other end than to gratify their own insatiable ambition!

But he in his turn was made to feel the judgments which he had so wantonly inflicted upon others.

It was a law in Israel, that magistrates should punish offenders in a way of just retribution, Leviticus 24:19-20; and doubtless it was by the direction of God, the righteous Governor of the universe, that the Israelites on this occasion maimed the body of their captive king. To insult over him indeed, as he had insulted over others, would have been inconsistent with those gracious affections, which Israel, as the Lord’s people, were bound to exercise. In that part therefore the sentence was relaxed; but, as far as the law required, they “meted to him the measure which he had meted out to others.” This brought his sin to his remembrance, and compelled him to acknowledge the equity of Jehovah, who in his righteous providence had so requited him, “As I have done, so God has requited me.”

And though a feeling mind cannot but regret that such a judgment should be executed on a fallen prince—yet in this case we are constrained to acquiesce in it, and even to feel a secret satisfaction, in seeing that the evils which he had so cruelly inflicted upon others were at last brought home to himself.

Let us now turn our attention from the particular dispensation, to,

II. The insight which it gives us into God’s moral government.

“God is still known by the judgments which he executes”.

God has not relinquished the government of the earth; he orders and overrules everything now as much as ever; and in his former dispensations we behold a perfect exhibition of the government which he still administers. Still, as formerly, does he requite the wickedness of men; sometimes on the offenders themselves, as when he smote Uzziah with leprosy, 2 Chronicles 26:19; and sometimes on others upon their account; as when he slew seventy thousand of the people, to punish the sin which David had committed in numbering his subjects, 2 Samuel 24:15; 2 Samuel 24:17.

Sometimes he inflicts the judgment immediately, as on Herod who was eaten up with worms, Acts 12:23; and sometimes after a long season, as on the sons of Saul for their father’s cruelty to the Gibeonites many years before, 2 Samuel 21:1; 2 Samuel 21:6; 2 Samuel 21:9.

Sometimes his judgments are sent as a prelude to those heavier judgments that shall be inflicted in the eternal world, as in the case of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, Numbers 16:24-35; and sometimes after the offenders themselves have been forgiven, as was experienced by David in his family, 2 Samuel 12:13-14, and by Manasseh, whose iniquities were visited upon Israel after he himself had been received up to glory, 2 Kings 24:2-4. Sometimes his chastisements had no particular affinity with the offence committed, as in the plagues of Egypt; and sometimes the offence was clearly marked in the punishment; as in the case of Joram, who had slain all his brothers, and whose children were all, with one exception, consigned to the slaughter 2 Chronicles 21:4; 2 Chronicles 21:17; and as David, whose wives and concubines were openly denied by his own son Absalom, just as he himself had defiled the wife of his faithful servant Uriah 2 Samuel 12:10-12; 2 Samuel 16:21-22.

So minutely is this correspondence marked in the Scriptures, that even the time and the place are noticed, as designed to manifest the very offence which God designed to punish; as Israel’s wandering in the wilderness forty years on account of their murmuring at the reports which were brought them by the spies who had searched out the land forty days, Numbers 14:33-34; and as Ahab’s blood was licked up by dogs, on the very spot where dogs had licked the blood of Naboth, whom he had murdered! 1 Kings 21:19; 1 Kings 22:38.

We might further notice the correspondence between the spiritual judgments which God oftentimes inflicts for spiritual transgressions. Those who “will not hearken to his voice, he gives up to their own counsels, Psalm 81:11-12;” those who abandon themselves to all manner of wickedness, he gives up to vile affections and a reprobate mind, Romans 1:26-28; and those who “will not receive his truth in order to salvation, he gives up to their own delusions, that they may be damned! 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12.”

We have not prophets indeed at this time to declare the particular instances in which God intends this righteous procedure of his to be discovered; but we have no reason to think that he has altered his system of government, and consequently no reason to doubt but that he still displays his own righteousness in his dispensations, as he has done in every age and quarter of the world. If any imagine that this conduct of his was confined to the nation whose temporal Governor he was, we must remind them that he dealt precisely in the same way with the heathen nations, Isaiah 33:1, and has taught us to expect that he will do so to the end of time, Revelation 18:5-6.

Wherever God fails to requite either good or evil in this life, he will requite it perfectly in the world to come!

God inflicts some judgments here on earth on account of sin, in order that it may be seen that he governs the world; but he does not do it in all instances, in order that men may know that he will certainly judge all in the world to come! It often happens that the wicked prosper, and the righteous are oppressed; and yet God does not remarkably interpose to punish the one, or to reward the other; but in the last day, all will be made right; and every creature in the universe, the good and the evil, the oppressor and the oppressed, will receive at God’s hands a just recompense! “God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you!” 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10.”

From hence we may learn,

1. To investigate the reasons of God’s dealings with us.

Every dispensation of Providence has a voice to which we should give diligent attention. If we more carefully inquired into the design of God in his various dispensations towards us, we would find them an inexhaustible source of most instructive information. We might read in our afflictions:

some fault which God designs to correct;

some mistake which he intends to rectify;

some corruption which he desires to subdue;

some grace which he is anxious to confirm;

or some temptation, against which he purposes to fortify our minds.

As in the instance before us, God brought to the remembrance of Adoni-bezek the sins which he had committed, and which perhaps in the fullness of his prosperity he had overlooked; so he often, by a particular chastisement, shows us the evil of some practice which we had justified, or revives in our minds the recollection of some which we had too slightly condemned. I would say unto you therefore, “Hear the rod, and Him who has appointed it.” If you see not the reason of it, go unto your God, and say, “Show me why you contend with me?” Let no cross be allowed to escape from you, without having first paid to you that tribute of good, which by the order of Providence you are entitled to exact.

2. To repent of particular sins.

We cannot be too particular in calling to mind the sins which at any time we may have committed. Though we have not walked in the steps of this wicked tyrant, it is highly probable that we have lived in sinful habits, which custom has rendered familiar to our minds; and that we have in many things offended God, while we have not been conscious of committing any offence at all.

Possibly Adoni-bezek at first felt a consciousness of doing wrong; but after a season, he accounted his rival kings a legitimate prey, whom he might subdue, and torture in any way that he pleased. But at last God made him sensible of the enormity of his conduct.

In like manner we may learn hereafter to view many parts of our conduct with far different feelings than we have yet done. God has borne with us indeed; but we must not consider his patience as any proof of his approbation; he is recording everything in the book of his remembrance, and will call us into judgment for it, whether it be good or evil. Let us then search and try our ways; let us pray that he will not “remember against us the sins and transgressions of our youth.” Let us, like Hezekiah, “humble ourselves for the pride” or any other evil passion that has at any time been in “our heart.” In this way we shall avert many evils from ourselves which unlamented sin would bring upon us, and extract the sting from those which God in his providence may allot us.

3. To abound in every good work.

Proverbs 11:31, “If the righteous receive their due on earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner!”

Proverbs 13:21, “Misfortune pursues the sinner, but prosperity is the reward of the righteous.”

1 Timothy 4:8 “Godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

Look into the Scriptures, and you will find that there is nothing that you can do for God or for your fellow-creatures, to which God has not annexed an appropriate reward.

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”

“Honor God, and he will honor you.”

“Serve God, and he will gird himself and serve you.”

Visit and relieve your sick neighbor, and “God will be with you in trouble, and make all your bed in sickness, Psalm 41:1; Psalm 41:3.”

“Nor shall even a cup of cold water given to a disciple, in any way lose its reward.”

Would you then have testimonies of God’s approbation here? endeavor to “abound in the work of the Lord;” and expect also, that, in proportion as you improve your talents now, shall be the weight of glory assigned to you in the eternal world!

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Joshua 24:21-27

But the people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the LORD.” Then Joshua said, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the LORD.” “Yes, we are witnesses,” they replied. “Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.” And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the LORD our God and obey him.” On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he drew up for them decrees and laws. And Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak near the holy place of the LORD. “See!” he said to all the people. “This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the LORD has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God.”

The pious servants of God may be disabled through age and infirmities from continuing their personal exertions, but they never will relax their zeal in the service of their Divine Master; and what they lack in effective labors, they will endeavor to supply by stimulating and confirming the zeal of others.

Moses, at an advanced age, renewed with Israel in the land of Moab the covenant which he had forty years before made with them in Horeb, Deuteronomy 29:1; and Joshua in like manner, now that he was “waxed old and stricken in age,” and was speedily “going the way of all the earth,” convened all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, for the purpose of engaging them once more to give themselves up to God in a perpetual covenant; so that the good effects of his influence might remain, when he should have ceased to move them by his authority and example.

We shall,

I. Consider the covenant which he made with them.

The covenant itself was, that they should serve the Lord.

Not contented with requiring this of them in general terms, he specified the manner in which they must serve the Lord.

They must serve him sincerely. It was not sufficient for them to call themselves his people, and to observe his ordinances with hypocritical exactness; their hearts must be fixed upon him; their delight must be to do his will; they must have no secret reserves of unmortified corruption; but must serve the Lord “in sincerity and truth, verse 14.”

They must also serve him resolutely. It might “seem evil to them to serve the Lord,” yes, it might be accounted so by the whole nation; but they must be inflexible in their purpose, and determinately say with him, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord, verse 15.”

They must also serve him exclusively. The admonition in the 19th verse is variously interpreted. Some think it was an objection in the mouth of an adversary, to deter people from the Lord’s service; others think it was a strong statement of the difficulties attending the Lord’s service, suggested by Joshua for the purpose of stirring up the Israelites to more fixedness of purpose, and greater energy in their exertions. But we apprehend that the whole context determines the passage to a very different meaning. There were still among them some idols, which, though they did not worship, they valued and were averse to part with; and Joshua saw, that, if these were retained, the people would in time relapse into idolatry. He warned them therefore of the impossibility of their serving God acceptably while they retained these idols; and assured them, that God would never forgive them, if they did not put away the things which were sure to prove to them an occasion of falling. The following warning in the 20th verse, and the exhortation in the 23rd verse, show most satisfactorily, that this is the true meaning of the passage we refer to.

God must be served alone; his glory will he not give to another; he is a “holy” God, that will tolerate no secret lust; and a “jealous God, that will endure no rival in our hearts, or in our hands.”

Having stated to them the terms of the covenant—he calls them to ratify and confirm it.

Covenants are usually signed by the parties themselves, and then attested by others, as witnesses. Thus on this occasion he calls the Israelites to confirm and ratify this covenant by their own express consent, which they give in terms no less plain than if they had annexed to the covenant their own name and seal. The manner in which they do this is peculiarly worthy of observation; they first express their utter abhorrence of the very idea of departing from God, verse 16; and then, assigning their obligations to Jehovah as a reason for their determination, they declare their fixed purpose to serve him, and him only, verse 17, 18. Upon Joshua’s expressing the jealousy which he entertained respecting them on account of their backwardness to cast away their idols, they renewed their declarations with increased energy, verse 21. Then, when reminded that they will be witnesses against themselves, if ever they should turn aside from God, they voluntarily engage to be witnesses, and thereby affix, as it were, to the covenant their signature and seal, verse 22; and lastly, on being required to give evidence of the sincerity of their professions, they renew their protestations with more strength and energy than ever, verse 23, 24.

Joshua now calls other witnesses. He wrote their words upon the very copy of the law which Moses had deposited in the ark, that that might remain an everlasting witness against them; and then he “took a large stone, and set it up there under an oak, that that also might be a witness against them,” if ever they should depart from God; thus taking care, that, the covenant being fully attested, they might be convicted, and condemned, and be forever without excuse before God and man, if they should ever forget and deny their God, verse 26, 27.

The zeal which Joshua showed on this occasion will be approved by all; we may hope therefore to perform an acceptable service to you, while, with an eye to that covenant:

II. We propose the same to you.

The duty of serving the Lord our God will be denied by none; and least of all by those who know the obligations which they owe to him for redeeming them from death by the blood of his only-begotten Son! But we beg permission to retrace, with application to yourselves,

1. The engagements you have entered into.

You are bound to serve the Lord your God, sincerely, resolutely, and exclusively.

There must be no dissimulation in this matter; you must have “truth in your inward parts;” to “call him ‘Lord, Lord,’ will be of no use, if you do not obey the things which he says.”

His word must be the rule of your obedience.

His will must be the reason of your obedience.

His glory must be the end of your obedience.

You will find that many will account the service of God an “evil” thing; odious in itself, injurious to society, and contemptible in all who addict themselves to it. You will find also that the great mass of nominal Christians are alienated from the life of God, as much as ever the Jews of old were. For the truth of this we appeal to the lives of all around us. Yet you must “not follow a multitude to do evil,” or forbear to walk in the narrow path of life, even though the whole world should urge you to accompany them in the broad road that leads to destruction. Nay; you must not only be steadfast yourselves, but must exert all your influence to animate and encourage others; you must adopt the noble resolution of Joshua, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!”

You must be on your guard too against harboring any “idol in your heart! Ezekiel 14:3-4.” Sensuality, or covetousness, or any other unmortified lust, will provoke God to jealousy, as much as gods of wood and stone; and if any one sin is willingly retained, or any one service willfully neglected, or any sacrifice deliberately withheld—then we must say with Joshua, “The Lord will not forgive your transgression and your sin!” “An eye, or a hand or foot, retained in opposition to his command—will cause the whole body, and soul too, to be cast into Hell!” He alone who will “lose his life for Christ’s sake, shall find it unto life eternal”.

2. The witnesses that will attest your violation of them.

You must be “witnesses against yourselves;” your own consciences will testify, if, when you are convinced that it is your duty to serve the Lord, you continue to neglect him. Well are we assured that we have even now within your own bosoms a witness to the truth of all that we affirm.

But there will be other witnesses against you. The Word that we speak, the same will testify against you in the last day; for it is written “in the book of God’s remembrance,” and reserved in the sanctuary to be brought forth as the evidence of God’s righteousness and the ground of his procedure.

I may add too, the very walls wherein we are assembled will testify against you; to use the strong language of our text, “they have heard all the words that have been spoken to you,” the faithful declarations, the earnest entreaties, the rich encouragements; yes, “the stones out of the wall will cry out against you, Habakkuk 2:11,” if you continue to violate your baptismal engagements, and indulge an indifference to all the subjects of your prayers.

Times without number have you prayed, that you might “live a righteous, sober, and a godly life, to the glory of God’s holy name;” and yet, many of you at least, have either never set yourselves in earnest so to live, or have carelessly declined from the ways of God, and forgotten the vows that are upon you.

Finally, God himself also will be “a swift witness against you.” Yes, “he searches the heart, and tries the thoughts, and will give to every man according to his works!”

APPLICATION.

“Choose now whom you will serve.” To unite God and Mammon is impossible, “if Baal is God, serve him; but if the Lord be God, then serve him!”

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Joshua 23:14

“Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed!”

It has been common in all ages to pay peculiar attention to the words of dying men; and the more eminent their characters were, the more regard has been shown to their last instructions or advice. The person speaking in the text, was, in some points of view, distinguished even above Moses himself; for though Moses was the appointed instrument of bringing the Israelites out of Egypt, he was forced to leave them to the care of Joshua, who alone was commissioned to settle them in Canaan; and who was therefore a more illustrious type of Jesus, whose name he bore, and whose character he prefigured.

The dying words of such a person, when speaking under the dictates of inspiration, may well be considered as calling for more than ordinary attention; especially when the scope of them was to vindicate the honor of God, and they were delivered in a way of solemn appeal to the whole nation of the Jews. But they have yet a further claim to our regard, because, though primarily applicable to those to whom they were immediately addressed, they are equally applicable to the Lord’s people, in every place, and every age. “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ! 2 Corinthians 1:20.”

To illustrate them in this view, we shall,

I. Notice some of those good things which the Lord our God has spoken concerning us.

In order to mark, what we are principally to insist upon, the faithfulness of God in performing his promises, we will specify some that were made,

1. To the Church at large.

God promised to the Church:

the gift of his dear Son, Genesis 3:15; Genesis 22:18; Deuteronomy 18:18; Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6; Isaiah 53:6; Daniel 9:24; Jeremiah 23:6;

the abiding presence of his Spirit Proverbs 1:23; Isaiah 32:15; Ezekiel 36:25-27; John 15:26; John 16:14; John 16:8; Zechariah 12:10; Romans 5:5; 2 Corinthians 1:22;

and a final triumph over all our enemies Isaiah 27:2; Isaiah 33:20; Isaiah 54:17; Jeremiah 31:35-37; Matthew 16:18.

2. To individual believers particular.

Though the names of individuals are not specified, their characters are delineated, and that too in such a way, that all who study the sacred oracles may read, as it were, their names in them. There are distinct promises made:

to the humble, Isaiah 66:2; James 4:6; Isaiah 57:15;

to the weak, Isaiah 42:3-4; Isaiah 40:11; Isaiah 41:14-15; Isaiah 41:17-18; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Amos 9:9;

to the tempted, 1 Corinthians 10:13; Hebrews 2:18;

to the backslidden, Jeremiah 3:14; Jeremiah 3:22; Hosea 14:4;

and especially to those who trust God, Isaiah 26:3; Psalm 125:1; Jeremiah 17:7-8. In that class is every rank and order of true Christians comprehended, “Truly it shall be well with the righteous! Isaiah 3:10.”

These are “exceeding great and precious promises, 2 Peter 1:4;” and the people who correspond with the different characters, are at full liberty to apply them to themselves.

Having taken a short view of the promises, we may proceed to,

II. Show the faithfulness of God in fulfilling them.

There is in the minds of all who have heard the Gospel, a general conviction of the truth and faithfulness of God.

It is seen that God has already fulfilled all that he has promised in reference to the Church at large. Besides what he did for the Jews, Joshua 21:43-45, he has sent his Son; he has poured out his Spirit; he has maintained his Church, notwithstanding all the efforts that have been used both by men and devils to destroy it. And from hence we feel a persuasion, that his Word shall be fulfilled in all other respects also. We do not indeed allow our convictions to operate as they ought; yet we revolt at the idea that “God should lie, Numbers 23:19,” and we know that “he cannot deny himself, 2 Timothy 2:13.”

All who have ever sought after God at all, have had proofs of his veracity in their own experience.

The Israelites “knew in all their hearts, and in all their souls,” that God had fulfilled his promises to them. And are there any who have ever called upon him, or trusted in him, and not found him ready to hear their prayers, and to supply their needs? If we look back to seasons of peculiar trial, shall we not find some manifestations of his mercy, sufficient to show, that, if we have not received more from him—it has been owing to our own backwardness to ask, rather than to any unwillingness in him to give?

Nor can the whole universe produce one single instance wherein his promises have failed.

We can make the same appeal to you, as Joshua, after sixty years’ experience, did to the Israelites. Bring forth every promise from the Bible; then search the annals of the world; and inquire of every creature in it—to find one single instance of God’s violating or forgetting a promise; and if one instance can be proved, we will consent that his Word shall henceforth be called in question.

Tell us then: To whom has he “been a wilderness? Jeremiah 2:31.” What penitent, believing, and obedient soul has he ever forsaken? Hebrews 13:5; Isaiah 49:14-15; Isaiah 54:7-10. He himself bids you to “testify against him, Micah 6:3.” But we defy the whole world to impeach his veracity, or to contradict our assertion, when we say, that “all which he has promised to us is come to pass; not one thing has failed thereof.” God may have delayed the accomplishment of his promises, or fulfilled them in a way that was not expected; but not one of them has ever failed.

Address,

1. Those who have not considered the faithfulness of God.

In spite of the general conviction of God’s truth that floats upon our minds, there is a proneness in us to indulge a thought that his mercy will in some way or other interpose to prevent the execution of his threatenings. But the veracity of God is pledged as much for the accomplishment of his threatenings as of his promises; and of this he labors in the most earnest manner to persuade us, Ezekiel 24:13-14. How many, alas! are now experiencing in Hell what they would not believe when they were on earth! Let us learn to “tremble at God’s Word.” Let us remember, that though the antediluvian scoffers said, as others now do, “Where is the promise of his coming? 2 Peter 3:3-4,” he did come at last, though he bore with them a hundred and twenty years.

And in like manner he will overwhelm us also at last with the deluge of his wrath, if we enter not into the ark before the door is shut against us, “We are going the way of all the earth,” whether we be old or young, rich or poor; and as death finds us, so shall we remain forever! Stay not then until death overtakes you; but join yourselves to the Lord, and to his people. “Come with us, and we will do you good; for the Lord has spoken good concerning Israel, Numbers 10:29.”

2. Those who are tempted to doubt his faithfulness.

Let not delays lead you to harbor unbelieving fears. God sent not his Son until four thousand years after he had announced his purpose to the world; nor did he bring Israel out of Egypt until the time fixed in his promises was just expired. If a few more hours had elapsed, his promise to Abraham would have been broken; but God remembered the very day; and then inclined the rebellious Pharaoh to submit; yes, he disposed the Egyptians to “thrust his people out” from their land, on “the self-same day” that he had fixed four hundred and thirty years before, Exodus 12:51.

Tarry then the Lord’s timing. Take the promises of God as your support, and “claim them as your heritage forever, Psalm 119:111.” Be not hasty in concluding that God will not accomplish them, 1 Samuel 27:1; Ezekiel 37:11; but take them with you to the throne of grace, and plead them as the saints of old were accustomed to do, Genesis 32:12; then you shall find them all to be “yes, and amen, in Christ, 2 Corinthians 1:20.” “If things seem astonishing in your eyes, do not imagine that they must therefore be so in the eyes of God, Zechariah 8:6;” for as “there is nothing too hard for him” to do, so there is nothing too great, or too good, for him to give to his believing people!

3. Those who are relying on his faithfulness.

It cannot but be a source of unspeakable comfort to observe in how many passages the faithfulness of God is expressly pledged for the performance of his promises. Does he promise:

to forgive our sins, 1 John 1:9,

to deliver us from temptation, 1 Corinthians 10:13,

to further in us the great work of sanctification, 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24,

and to preserve us to the end, 2 Thessalonians 3:3.

We are told in each, that he is “faithful to do it” for us.

It is also delightful to reflect, that “his Word is tried, 2 Samuel 22:31.” Solomon’s testimony was precisely that which is given in the text, 1 Kings 8:56; and, the more we trust in God, the more evidence shall we have that “he keeps covenant and mercy to a thousand generations, Deuteronomy 7:9.”

But remember that his fidelity to you requires in you fidelity to him; it lays you under a tenfold obligation to “hold fast the profession of your faith without wavering, Hebrews 10:23.”

Labor to be found “children that will not lie; so will He be” your faithful and almighty “Savior Isaiah 63:8.”

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Joshua 23:9-11

“The LORD has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. One of you routs a thousand, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as he promised. So be very careful to love the LORD your God.”

Much as patriotism and valor are admired, and deservedly as, in many instances, they have been rewarded by men—they are of no value in the sight of God, if they be not accompanied with true piety. Their utility to the state of which we are members is undoubted; but their moral excellence depends on their union with religion. Abstracted from a regard to God, they are a mere compound of pride and selfishness; but, regulated by religion, they are in a high degree amiable and praiseworthy.

Many bright examples of patriotism, united with piety, are set before us in the Scriptures; but none shines with greater luster than that of Joshua; when his whole nation was sinking under desponding fears, he encouraged them by his unshaken fortitude and confidence in God, Numbers 14:6-9; and when he had vanquished all their enemies, and put them into the quiet possession of the promised land—he still improved his influence to confirm their faith, and to establish them in the paths of righteousness. The words before us are part of his dying address to all the elders of Israel. In applying them to the present occasion, we shall show:

I. To whom our successes have been owing.

God has promised to interpose on behalf of those who wait upon him.

His promises to hear the prayers of individuals are numberless, Matthew 7:7. And the same are made also to repenting nations, 2 Chronicles 7:14.

His interpositions on behalf of our nation have been signally manifest.

We may be led to ascribe them to the valor of our forces, or the skill of our commanders. But it is God who endues them both with skill and courage, and gives the victory to whoever he will. Besides, there have been many peculiar circumstances which owed their origin to him alone. And, while these mark his providential care, they compel us to acknowledge that “it is he who fights for us, Psalm 44:3.”

Nor are we without a hope, that his mercies to us have been sent in accomplishment of his promise.

Many have mourned over the troubles of the land, and have made earnest intercession with God on our behalf. And though there is nothing meritorious in their petitions—yet when God sends the mercies for which we have prayed, we have reason to hope that he has sent them in answer to our prayers.

Whatever may be our opinion respecting this, it befits us to consider:

II. The improvement we should make of them.

Every mercy from God is an additional obligation to love and serve him.

God has commanded us to love him with all our heart; and he is worthy of our supreme regard on account of the perfections of his nature, and the dispensations of his grace. But he is also to be loved in a peculiar manner for hearing and answering our prayers, Psalm 116:1. The effect produced on the mind of David, should result from every expression of the divine goodness towards us, Psalm 18:1 with the title of the Psalm.

But we are very prone to forget all of his benefits.

However earnest we may be in a season of affliction, we become remiss and careless when the affliction is removed. We are like metal, which is melted in the furnace, but returns speedily to its original hardness as soon as it is taken from the fire. Like the Jews we “forget the Rock that bought us.” Even good “Hezekiah requited not the Lord according to all that he had done for him, 2 Chronicles 32:25.” And too many among ourselves forget to pay the vows which we have offered in a time of trouble.

On this account we should take good heed to remember them.

Nothing is more displeasing to God than ingratitude. Nor will he overlook it even in his most highly favored servants, 2 Chronicles 32:25. But “shall we thus requite the Lord?” Let us rather survey with gratitude the mercies we have received. Let us habitually behold the hand of God in them. And let us anxiously inquire, “What shall I render unto the Lord for all the benefits that he has done unto me?”

This subject may teach us,

1. Where to look for future successes.

If we look to our fleets and armies we may expect nothing but defeat. We are indeed to use all possible means of defense, but not to trust in any of them, Isaiah 22:11. Our eyes must be directed unto God alone! “The battle is not ours, but his.” “He can save by many or by few.” Were we ever so superior to our enemies he could bring us down like Sennacherib, Isaiah 10:8-19; or if we were reduced to ever so low an ebb, he could render us victorious, Isaiah 10:4. And it is certain that if we “walk in pride, he will abase” us; but if we humbly seek his aid, he will support and deliver us.

2. Where to look for success in our spiritual warfare.

Whatever external peace we might enjoy, we yet should have a warfare to maintain. There never will be one moment’s truce with our spiritual enemies. The world, the flesh, and the devil, will incessantly fight against us; and we must conflict with them even to the end. But God fights for those who put their trust in him. Let us call upon him, and he will clothe us with armor from the arsenal of Heaven, Ephesians 6:13. The Captain of our salvation will go forth with us to the battle. He will shield our head, and strengthen our arm, and make us “more than conquerors” over all. Let us then “love him” for the victories we have already gained. Let us take good heed to ourselves that we never rob him of his glory. Let us thankfully ascribe our every success to him, Psalm 115:1; and begin the song which we shall shortly sing in Heaven, “Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! 1 Corinthians 15:57.”

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Joshua 22:10-12

“When they came to Geliloth near the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altar there by the Jordan. And when the Israelites heard that they had built the altar on the border of Canaan at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side, the whole assembly of Israel gathered at Shiloh to go to war against them.”

Religion has often been made a plea for ambitious and bloody projects; but it never was on any occasion so truly and properly the ground of war, as in the event that is here recorded. The tribes who had their portion on the east of Jordan, after having been disbanded, came to the land of their possession; and, apprehending that at some future period they might be disowned by their brethren on account of their not having their inheritance in the land of Canaan, they built a large altar on the borders of their own land near Jordan, to serve as a memorial to all future ages that they belonged to the tribes of Israel, and were the worshipers of Israel’s God.

The other tribes having no conception of an altar being erected but for sacrifice, regarded this as an act of rebellion against God, and determined instantly to go and punish the supposed apostates. But first they agreed to send an embassy, to see whether they could not prevail by milder methods to reclaim them from their wickedness. The ambassadors went; a convention met; an explanation took place; the misapprehensions were removed; and all was speedily and amicably settled.

Now this history will suggest many useful hints for the regulating of,

I. National interests.

The question was, in fact, of infinite importance to the whole nation. Repeated occasions had arisen wherein the sin of individuals had been visited upon the whole nation. The iniquity of Achan had not long since caused the defeat of Israel’s hosts, and the loss of thirty-six men; and, not very long before, the connection of many with the Midianite women in whoredom and idolatry, brought destruction on twenty-four thousand Israelites in one day. What then could he expected, but that, if these who had erected the altar should pass unpunished, God would punish all the other tribes as partners in their guilt? To avert so terrible an evil was their bounden duty; and therefore they acted right in determining to avenge the quarrel of their God. But, as it was possible they might prevail by gentler means, they sent delegates from every tribe, with Phinehas at their head, to expostulate with them on their conduct. These were met by other delegates from the supposed offenders, and everything was cleared up to their satisfaction; and thus the controversy was terminated to the unspeakable joy of all parties.

Now in this we see how nations ought to act, whenever grounds of disagreement arise, and their mutual interests interfere. Their ambassadors should confer with each other in a conciliatory manner, anxious to prevent extremities, and, by mutual explanations and concessions, to adjust their differences. One thing in particular was worthy of applause in those who seemed disposed for war; they were intent only on the prevention of iniquity; and, imagining that the altar had been raised with a view to put the land of Gilead on a footing of equality with the land of Canaan, they offered to give up a proportionate share of their own land to those who had erected it, and thus to sacrifice their own interests for the preservation of peace.

Alas! how different is this from what is usually found among contending nations! Modern embassies are most frequently characterized by duplicity and concealment and chicanery, and by a wanton pertinacity about matters of inferior importance. Were all actuated by the spirit of Israel on this occasion, were frankness on the one side met by patience and conciliation on the other, the earth would be no more deluged with blood, but the “swords would be beaten into ploughshares,” and happiness would reign, where nothing but desolation and misery is seen.

But this history will be further useful for the regulation of,

II. Judicial policy.

This act was in reality an enforcing of the existing laws under the direction of the civil magistrate; for, though Joshua is not mentioned, we can have no doubt but that Phinehas and the ten princes had received his sanction at least, if they did not proceed by his express command. The law of God had plainly enjoined that there should be only one place for God’s altar, and that all the tribes should offer their sacrifices there, Deuteronomy 12:5; Deuteronomy 12:7. It also commanded, that, if any attempt should be made by any part of Israel to establish idolatry among them, the remainder, after due inquiry, should cut them off with the sword, Deuteronomy 13:12-15. This then was an interference of magistrates in support of the laws; and it was indispensably necessary that they should interfere, to prevent so fatal a schism as was likely to arise.

We would not be understood to say, that civil magistrates would be justified in using the sword for the prevention or punishment of religious schism now. The true Church is not so accurately defined now, as that anyone body has a right to assume to itself the exclusive privilege of being called The Church of Christ; nor is there any commission given to magistrates to use carnal weapons in the support of any particular system, either of doctrines or of discipline, in the Church. But where, as in the instance before us, there appears to be a public renunciation of all religion, and a profane contempt of all laws, the magistrate is bound to interfere; and every Christian in the land is bound to give him his support.

Opinions are not within the cognizance of the civil magistrate, except when they are manifested in actions, or are so promulgated as to endanger the peace and welfare of society; but, when carried to that extent, they justly come under his control. This vigilance however, though sufficiently exercised in relation to the things which concern the State, is but little seen in the suppression of profaneness and iniquity. We have laws against every species of iniquity; but they are not carried into effect. The fear of divine judgments on the land scarcely ever enters into the bosoms either of magistrates or people; hence, if only there is no flagrant violation of the peace, iniquity may prevail almost to any extent, without anyone to vindicate the honor of God, or to avert his displeasure from a guilty land.

In this respect there is a solemn difference between the Israelites and us; insomuch that we, with all our superior advantages, are not worthy to be compared with them. Yet we must remember, that whenever we put forth the arm of power for the suppression of vice, our first object must be, by expostulation, to reclaim; nor must we ever inflict punishment, until milder measures have failed of success.

This history will be yet further useful to us in the regulation of,

III. Religious zeal.

“It is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing;” but our zeal should particularly exert itself:

1. To prevent apostasy from God.

This was the real object of the people who raised the altar; they, in a most reverential and solemn manner, called God to witness that they had been actuated only by a desire to transmit to their posterity an indelible assurance that they were as truly the Lord’s people, as those who dwelt in Canaan; and that though their land was separated from that of their brethren, their interests and privileges were the same.

Here was a noble example of regard for posterity. It might have been better indeed to have consulted Joshua, or rather to have taken counsel of the Lord, respecting this measure, before they had carried it into execution; but holy zeal does not always pause to consider all possible effects and consequences; (though doubtless, the more tempered it is with wisdom, the more excellent it appears,) but God does not blame their conduct; and in this at least we shall do well to follow it, namely, by exerting ourselves in every possible way to transmit, and to perpetuate even to the remotest ages, the knowledge of God, as our God, our Father, and Redeemer.

The other tribes also manifested a noble zeal in the same cause, though by different means. They were fearful that this altar would be the means of turning many of their brethren from the worship of the true God; and they went forth at the peril of their lives to prevent it. It may be said, that these two were less temperate than they should have been; but, convinced as they were in their own judgment, their zeal was not at all more ardent than the occasion required. Though they spoke roughly, they spoke with candor, and with a perfect openness to conviction, if anything could be said to justify the act. And their offer to surrender a part of their own possessions, in order to remove the temptation to which, in their own minds, they had ascribed the act, showed, that they were actuated solely by a regard for God’s honor and for Israel’s good.

Here then is proper scope for all our zeal. We should remove, as far as possible, both from ourselves and from our children, every temptation to apostasy from God. We should rebuke sin in others also, and set ourselves against it to the uttermost, We should show ourselves on all occasions on the Lord’s side; and be willing to sacrifice, not only our property, but even life itself, in vindicating his honor, and maintaining his interest in the world.

2. To preserve love and unity with man.

If we find somewhat to blame in each of these opposite parties; in the one, an undue precipitation in building the altar; and, in the other, an undue hastiness in ascribing it to wrong intentions; we behold much, very much, to admire in both. When the accusers found themselves mistaken, they did not shift their ground, and condemn their brethren for imprudence; nor, when the accused had evinced their innocence, did they condemn their accusers on the ground of uncharitableness and injustice; the one were as glad to acquit as the others were to be acquitted; and both united in sincere thankfulness to God, that all ground of dissension was removed.

Now it will almost of necessity sometimes happen that the well-meant actions of our brethren shall be misconstrued, through an ignorance of their precise views and intentions; it may also happen, that the well-meant reproofs of our brethren may be founded in misconception. Here then is ample room for the exercise of well-tempered zeal. To avoid, on the one hand, unnecessary accusations, and gladly to retract them if they have been unwittingly adduced; and, on the other side, to avoid vindictive recriminations, and with pious meekness to satisfy the minds of any whom we may have unintentionally grieved; this is the spirit which we should continually cultivate; it should be the labor of our lives to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

3. To avert the divine judgments from our guilty land.

It is a memorable expression which is recorded on this occasion, “Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord, verse 31.” Sin delivers us into his hand for punishment. Of this, the history of Israel in all ages is a decisive proof. On the other hand, repentance delivers us out if his hand; as was remarkably exemplified in the case of Nineveh; which, but for the intervention of their penitence, would have been overthrown in forty days. But we need not go further than to the history before us, where this very effect is ascribed to the pious zeal of the Reubenites and Gadites. Happy would it be for us, if we all considered the effect of our conduct on the public welfare! God has no pleasure in punishing his creatures; and he is ever ready to remove his judgments, when they have produced in us the desired humiliation. Let us then approve ourselves to him; and then, though our zeal be misinterpreted, and even our own brethren be for a time incensed against us—our righteousness shall be made to appear, and our labors be crowned with the approbation of our God.

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Joshua 22:4-5

“Now that the LORD your God has given your brothers rest as he promised, return to your homes in the land that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan. But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul.”

The duties of soldiers and of their commanders are well illustrated in this passage. The soldier’s chief excellence is a prompt, steady, persevering, uniform obedience to the commands of his superiors, without regarding any difficulties, any dangers, any sacrifices. Among the chief excellencies of a commander is an attention to the spiritual and eternal interests of those who are under his authority.

The Reubenites, Gadites, and Manassites, had received their portion on the other side of Jordan on the express condition, that a just proportion of their tribes should pass over Jordan to fight in concert with the other tribes, and not return unto their inheritance until the whole land would be subdued. This they had done; and now that they were about to be disbanded, Joshua acknowledges to their honor, that “they had kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded them, and had obeyed his voice also in all that he had commanded them.”

But while he commends them for their fidelity to him, he endeavors to impress upon their minds a sense of duty and allegiance to God; and enjoins them to “take diligent heed to serve the Lord their God with all their heart, and with all their soul.”

From this parting exhortation we are led to remark,

I. That a progress in holiness is above all things to be desired.

Had Joshua merely judged it proper to insert an admonition relative to their religious duties, one or two expressions would have sufficed; but from the multitude of expressions used in the text, we see of what unspeakable importance he considered piety to be to every man. He not only mentions the subject first in general terms, that “they should do the commandment and the law,” but enters particularly into it; they must have:

as the principle of their obedience, the love of God;

as the extent of it must be to all God’s ways;

as to the manner of it, they must cleave to him with an unalterable determination of their wills, and the most ardent exercise of their affections.

This is Scriptural holiness, and nothing short of it will suffice.

We do not say that the Christian must be perfect; for where should we then find a Christian? But he must aim at perfection, and be continually pressing forward for the attainment of it. This was the great object of Joshua’s solicitude both for himself and his soldiers; this was the great end for which our Lord Jesus Christ died upon the cross, even “to purify to himself a peculiar people zealous for good works;” and this must be the one object for which we should desire to live.

II. That, whatever progress any person may have made, he still needs to hear words of counsel and exhortation.

The soldiers whom Joshua was disbanding had continued with unshaken fidelity to fulfill their engagements; and though they had been detained from their families and possessions for seven years, they never once murmured or repined at the delay; yet Joshua did not on that account think that his religious counsels to them were superfluous.

Nor should the most established Christian imagine himself to be beyond the reach of danger, or to have attained such eminence as not to need every possible help for his furtherance in the divine life. Peter, writing to those to whom “divine power had already given all things that pertained to life and godliness,” says, “I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though you know them, and are established in the present truth.” And indeed the counsel in our text intimates, that, in order to do the commandments, we must “take heed,” yes, “take diligent heed” to them; so many are our temptations to violate them, and so averse are we by nature to observe them.

In a general way, the truth of these observations will be thought so obvious, as that they scarcely deserved a mention; but experience proves that they need to be insisted on with all possible earnestness; for, while the professors of religion depart from open iniquity, there is in every one of them some besetting sin, which they are prone to cherish and indulge. Moreover, their blindness with respect to their besetting sin is most astonishing; for, not only are they unconscious of its domination, but they are even ignorant of its existence in them!

How frequently do they give themselves credit for that as a virtue, which others see to be their greatest defect! How blind are most Christians to their pride, their vanity, their worldliness! How often does an angry and bitter spirit habitually prevail in men, who never mourn over their sinful tempers, or appear even to be aware of them! We call upon all then to “be jealous over themselves with a godly jealousy;” and to hear the exhortations of the Gospel with an especial reference to themselves, searching out their own spirit, and striving to attain the full “mind that was in Christ Jesus.”

III. That a state of peace and prosperity is a season of peculiar danger.

Now the disbanded soldiers were returning to the bosom of their families, and the peaceful prosecution of their worldly business. And, as Moses had long since warned them that they were in danger, while enjoying “a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant–then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery! Deuteronomy 6:10-12.”

And who does not feel how apt the mind is to yield to the pleasures of sense, and to relax its ardor in the pursuit of heavenly things, when it has no trials or troubles to stimulate its exertions? Visit the chambers of sickness, and of health; and see how different the same people are under the two different states! View people under painful bereavements, and see them afterwards in the full enjoyment of all earthly comforts! Truly, if we regarded heavenly things only, we might rather congratulate men on troubles than on the absence of them, and to account prosperity their greatest snare. To all then who are looking forward to any worldly acquisitions or comforts, or who are now living in the possession of them, we would urge with peculiar earnestness the necessity of vigilance, lest having “begun in the Spirit, they end in the flesh!”

Hear the exhortation of an inspired Apostle, “Follow after holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord; looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled, Hebrews 12:14-15.” There you may see the hidden nature, the growing tendency, the baneful effects of sin, and its effects on the heart! O that we may be ever on our guard against sin’s secret workings; and most of all on our guard, when ease and prosperity are administering opiates to our souls!

“Allow then, brethren, a word of exhortation, Hebrews 13:22. When you are released from your present warfare, and are dismissed to your eternal inheritance, you will be beyond the reach of sin; in the bosom of your God your holiness and felicity will be complete. But, as long as you are in this sinful world, you will need to have every word of Joshua’s injunctions repeatedly enforced.

See then to it that you “love the Lord your God,” who has redeemed you from sin and Satan, death and Hell!

See that, from a sense of love to him, and his love to you, your obedience is carried to its utmost possible extent; and strive to “be perfect even as your Father who is in Heaven is perfect!”

And, since it is certain that you will find many things to draw you away from him, mind that you “cleave to him with full purpose of heart,” “abhorring that which is evil, and cleaving to that which is good!”

Lastly, let all your affections center in Him, and in his ways. Let “your whole heart and your whole soul” be engaged in his service. And let the delight which you experience in fulfilling his will, be manifested, “not in word and in tongue, but in deed and in truth;” so that your bitterest enemy, or most watchful observer, may have no room to doubt either the excellence of your spiritual principles, or the reality of your spiritual attainments!

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Joshua 18:3

So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?”

Consistency in true religion is by no means an easy attainment. Certain duties may be performed with zeal, while others of a more difficult and self-denying nature are shamefully neglected. We admire and applaud the conduct of “the whole congregation of Israel” in relation to the tabernacle, which with one consent they “set up for the Lord in Shiloh,” as soon as ever “the land was subdued before them.” This mark of respect and gratitude, of love and devotion, was due to God in the first place; but should we not have expected, that they would immediately go on to complete the work which God had assigned them, and which they had almost brought to a successful termination? Yet behold, there were no less than seven tribes out of the twelve, who had not yet received their inheritance, and who manifested a most criminal indifference respecting the possession of their appointed portion. Joshua reproves this negligence in the words which we have read; for the elucidation of which we shall show,

I. The force of the reproof as applied to these Israelites.

God had given them the land, and had so far subdued the inhabitants before them, that little remained but to go and take possession of the whole country. But they delayed, and their neglect brought a just reproof upon them:

1. For their indolence.

It is manifest that they gave way to an indolent and slothful spirit, which kept them from making the exertions necessary for the acquisition of their respective lots. Now this is a habit which we are all too apt to indulge, and which has a most injurious effect wherever it prevails. Solomon speaks of it as rendering a man averse to the most necessary duties, insomuch that “his way is always like a hedge of thorns” that makes his every motion difficult and painful, Proverbs 15:19. Hence he is impoverished, “The soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing, Proverbs 13:4;” even the attainments he has made are rendered unprofitable to him through the influence of this corrupt principle, “The lazy man does not roast his game, Proverbs 12:27;” in fact, as Solomon further observes, “The desire of the slothful kills him, Proverbs 21:25.” Now to yield to this principle at any time is very reprehensible; but under their circumstances, when God had done so much for them, and there remained so little for them to do, it was highly criminal!

2. For the undue satisfaction they took in their present comforts.

Doubtless their present state formed a great contrast with that which they had experienced in the wilderness; for they enjoyed all the rich provisions which had been treasured up for the use of the former inhabitants. But, because they were at present possessed of such abundance, they were unmindful of that which was destined for their future and permanent support.

Thus it frequently happens that a present portion diverts men from the pursuit of an ulterior object, which would have more richly compensated their continued labors. Not that we mean to decry moderation; for, when it is seated in the desires without impeding our actions, we consider it as a distinguished virtue; but where a partial attainment of what is truly good, renders us indifferent to the fuller possession of that good, we regard that as an abuse of God’s goodness to us, and a perversion of what he designed for our encouragement. In the Israelites it argued base ingratitude to God, and was a very shameful method of requiting all his kindness to them.

3. For the light thoughts which they entertained of their promised inheritance.

It is evident that they did not regard it in the exalted light in which God had represented it to them; they thought but little of it as an inheritance assigned to them by the Deity, and still less as a type and emblem of that glorious inheritance reserved for his people in a better world.

In this respect they are followed by the whole race of mankind. God bestows innumerable blessings on us, to lead up our minds to Him who gave them, and to stimulate us to the pursuit of far higher blessings; but we view these mercies only as they conduce to our present comfort, and entirely overlook the intention of the Donor; yes, we scarcely ever begin to think of spiritual benefits, until he has either withdrawn, or embittered to us our carnal enjoyments.

In Israel, this conduct was peculiarly criminal, because the possession of this land had been promised to Abraham so many hundred years before, and had constituted the chief encouragement to the whole nation to devote themselves unreservedly to the service of Jehovah.

The reproof however must not be confined to them:

II. We must acknowledge the justice of the reproof as applied to ourselves.

God has given to us a better inheritance, even Heaven itself; and much has he done for us, in order to bring us to the possession of it. We speak not now of those who are yet “in darkness and the shadow of death,” but of those who have been “brought out of darkness into marvelous light;” yes, to the greater part of them is this reproof preeminently due. Let it only be considered how “slack” the professors of religion almost universally are in the pursuit of Heaven:

1. How slack professors are in reading the Scriptures.

The sacred volume contains, not only the will which makes over to us the grant of this inheritance, but the title-deeds themselves; yes, a map also of the whole estate, a description of everything that is valuable in it, and clear directions for securing to ourselves the everlasting possession of it!

Now I would ask: What would be our employment, if such a document were put into our hands in reference to an earthly inheritance; especially if we were called to make out our title to it, and our ultimate enjoyment of it depended on proofs to be adduced from the records themselves? Would we not diligently apply ourselves to those records without loss of time? Would we not call in professional aid, and use every possible effort to establish our right? Would we find ourselves at ease while the outcome of our exertions was doubtful? or would we waste our time in unprofitable pursuits, and thereby endanger the ultimate loss of our property through the craft and subtlety of an envious adversary?

We all know how we would feel and act on an occasion like that. But how do we act in reference to the inspired volume? I speak not of those who entirely neglect the Bible; their conduct speaks loudly for itself; I speak of those who do occasionally read the Scriptures. Do we search that blessed book with half the interest that we ought? Do we mark everything in it that can assist us either in discovering our title to Heaven, or in securing the attainment of it? Let us ask ourselves, whether we do not often find less interest in it than in a common newspaper? And, though for conscience sake we read a portion of it every day, we find it oftentimes only a dead letter, and a sealed book, from whence we derive no real benefit. Does not this then show how justly the reproof of “slackness” may be applied to us?

2. How slack professors are in prayer.

Prayer is that which brings down aid from above, and tends, more than anything else, to the furtherance of the work of God within us. But O! what a poor, cold, formal service is prayer in general, even among those who profess to be looking for the enjoyment of Heaven!

But, what if we were professing great concern to reach a destined port, and yet carried no more sail than was just necessary to keep the vessel’s head towards it; and every storm threatened to drive us out of our course; and it was often doubtful whether the currents had not a more powerful influence to counteract our design, than the wind to further it; would anyone believe that we were in earnest?

It is by prayer that we catch the heavenly gales, and are advanced towards the land which we pretend to seek; let conscience say then, whether we carry the canvass which we might; or whether our secret aspirations justify our outward professions. Who among us, in the view of these holy duties, does not even reproach himself, and almost doubt his own sincerity?

3. How slack professors are in the mortification of sin.

In this we particularly resemble the Israelites of old. Because the armies of Canaan were no longer formidable to them, they overlooked the scattered remains which still occupied many strongholds, and considered them as unworthy of their notice. And is it not thus with too many among ourselves? We are not any longer tempted to the commission of gross, open, scandalous iniquities; and therefore we rest satisfied with the victories we have gained, instead of prosecuting them to the utter extirpation of our indwelling corruptions.

Look at many professors of religion; they will not be guilty of palpable dishonesty; yet will harbor covetous and worldly desires; they will not commit whoredom or adultery; yet will indulge much impurity in their imaginations.

See the various parties in the Church; instead of exerting all their powers against their common enemy, they can waste their time in contending with each other; and even those who are united in the same Church too often weaken each other’s hands by mutual disagreements, instead of edifying each other by fervent love. Do not these things show how lukewarm we are in the prosecution of our best interests? Were we in earnest, as we ought to be, we would account sin to be our only enemy; and the extirpation of sin would be the one labor of our lives.

4. How slack professors are in pressing forward for the prize of our high calling.

This distinguished the great Apostle of the Gentiles; he “forgot the things which were behind, and reached forward for that which was ahead;” and, after his example, we should account nothing attained, as long as anything remains to be attained; we should consider victories only as steps to future conquests; and think it time enough to rest, when every enemy, even death itself, has been put under our feet.

Instead of dreading the dissolution of our earthly tabernacle, we should groan for it, desiring to be dissolved, that we may be with Christ! Yes, we should be “looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of Christ,” when our sanctification will be perfect, and our triumph complete!

But how far is this from being the experience of the generality of Christians! We seem to cleave to life, as if a state of pain and conflict were preferable to that of rest and happiness. Alas! alas! we live far below our privileges! Whereas, if we were as heartily engaged in the work of our salvation as God requires us to be, we would manifest in our very countenances the radiance of God’s image, and bear about in our souls the felicity of Heaven!

That we may give more effect to this reproof, we will set before you,

III. The considerations which are proper to stir us up to diligence.

1. Consider how much time you have lost already.

What attainments might we not have secured, if, from the commencement of our warfare, we had made no truce with our enemies, but had followed up our advantages with befitting zeal! Many may look back for years, and yet be scarcely able to point out one foot of ground that they have gained, beyond that which was given to them in their first conflicts. But we must not forget that it is not he who begins well, but “he who endures to the end, that shall be saved.”

2. Consider how your difficulties are increased by delay.

Forty years after this time, the tribe of Dan had yet to fight for their inheritance, Judges 18:1; and it was four hundred years before the Jebusites were driven from Jerusalem, 2 Samuel 5:6-8. Had all the tribes proceeded with united vigor to fulfill the divine command in its utmost extent—they would not so long have had to lament that their remaining enemies were as “scourges in their side, and thorns in their eyes.”

Just so, who does not find that corruptions gather strength by indulgence, and that graces decay for lack of exercise? “Look then to yourselves, that you lose not the things that you have wrought, but that you receive a full reward, 2 John verse 8.”

3. Consider how certain is your success, if you advance in your work.

The promise and oath of Jehovah are on your side. If there were any room for doubt respecting the ultimate success of your labors, there would be some little excuse for lukewarmness; but when victory is sure, methinks the most timid person in the universe should not fear the conflict, nor the weakest hesitate to put forth his strength. Go on then without fear; and “you shall never fall, but an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! 2 Peter 1:10-11.”

4. Consider how richly Heaven will compensate for all your labors.

What was Canaan, in comparison with the eternal rest that remains for the people of God? It a common thing for the ungodly to find fault with the Lord’s people as too strict, and to dissuade them from the exercise of so much zeal in the cause of Christ. But what would they think, if, like Paul, they were caught up to the third heavens, and beheld for a single hour those blessed abodes? Would they think us then too much in earnest? Would they not rather stand amazed at the lukewarmness of those, whom they now condemn as “righteous overmuch?”

They themselves cannot but feel the full force of this appeal; much more must you who are engaged in the service of the Lord, be well convinced, that “it is good to be zealously affected always in a good cause.” To you therefore we say, as the spies did to the neglectful Danites, “Come on, let’s attack them! We have seen that the land is very good. Aren’t you going to do something? Don’t hesitate to go there and take it over! Judges 18:9.”

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)